HAWAH WmXHROP CHAPTER 

D.A.R. 



HISTORIC GUIDE 
CAMBRIDGE 





A 



MONUMENT TO MARK THE 

spot where Cambridge's "Washing- 
ton elm" stood ■will bo a poor substi- 
- I tute for the tree itself. Residents of 
^ Cambridge know that ^Massachusetts is 
^ studded with monuments which com- 
^ raemorate Revolutionary events, but hith- 
\i> erto they have had in the Washing- 
ton elm a living record, of one of the 
most dramatic and significant incidents 
not only <'f that period but of the na- 
tion's history. But the elm is now dead ; 
and though a monument is due it,^coW 
stone and bronze cannot link the Mst 
with the present as did the verdant tree. 
People will still remember that Wash- 
ington took command of the Continental 
Army on that spot, but there will be no 
rree to tell them that this happened not 
long ago. The last actor in that scene 
is dead and the event becomes "history." 
This is a pity, for the tree has helped 
observers to understand that change in 
civilization is the rule. Think of the 
changes that America — and, for that 
matter, the world— has seen within the 
life tenn of that tree. No wonder that 
the Romans called time a "swift de* 
vourer»" 



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16, 1923. 



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Gains Astute Political Ad\ 

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By JOHN ^ 

Washington. Aug. 15. — When Pre< r j 
f1ent Calvin Cooliflge selected former I 
Representative C. Bascom Slenrip to bt> > 
secretary to the President, he set tlu- 
town by the ears, and the end of it will | 
not be heard until after the Presidential j 
eamp&ign next year. The Democrat^:, 
will ?!ee to that, and, after a little i 
while, they will have plenty of help 
from the" several grades of 'kicldnzJB^ i 

•pjBS poai3 ui\i 'iJ^isaaAiufi 
IBUopB^ 'aq4 paiiua aq HJav 'iCijunoo 
aq4 ni suopn^psut jBuopBonpa ^sapp 
aq4 JO auo si qoiqM. 'AljisjaAiun aqj, 

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Wasuixutox El.M 



AN HISTORIC GUIDE 



TO 



CAMBRIDGE 



COMPILED BY MEMBERS OF THE HANNAH WINTHROP CHAPTER 

NATIONAL SOCIETY, DAUGHTERS OF THE 

AMERICAN REVOLUTION 



Know old Cambridge? Hope you do. 
Born there? Don't say so! I was too. 
The nicest place that ever was seen. 
Colleges red, and common green. 
Sidewalks brownish with trees between. 

O. W. HOLJIES. 




CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 

1907 






IlIBRARY Of CONGRESS 
Two CoDlei Received 
FEB .18 190r 
,— Copyright EnUy 

CLASS A KXCmNo, 



Copyright, 1907 
By Hannah Winthrop Chapter, N. S. D. A. R. 



PREFACE 



EVERY year hundreds of tourists come to Cambridge reverencing 
it as one of the earhest settled towns of New England — the home 
for nearly three centuries of Harvard College and of many eminent 
men, and the first camp of the American army of the Revolution. 
Guides who show strangers the points of interest are often poorly 
furnished with reliable information, and many residents are hardly 
better informed. In pi-esenting this volume through its Pilgrimage 
Committee, formed in 1902 to provide reliable guidance for D. A. R. 
chapters visiting Cambridge, the Hannah Winthrop Chapter hopes to 
be of service to all those, both stranger and resident, who are interested 
in the history of the city. 

Since 1905 about two thirds of the articles here published in book 
form have appeared in the columns of The Cambridge Tribune, through 
the courtesy of the editor, Mr. Edward F. Gamwell, under whose super- 
vision they were printed. To Lucius R. Paige's History of Cambridge 
the committee has turned as authority for facts of history. County 
records and private papers have been carefully read, and the utmost 
accuracy of statement sought. Some mistakes have doubtless occurred, 
but as far as possible dates have been verified by reference to wills, 
deeds, histories, and biographies. The original lots of land granted 
to the first settlers are here described, and the names of their owners, 
with subsequent transfers given from early to recent times. Many 
of the cuts have been made expressly for this book, and appear for the 
first time. 

The Committee wishes to thank Miss Caroline E. Peabody for the 
use of her photograph of Craigie House ; Mr. George D. Ford for 
taking the photographs of the Waterhouse, Thomas Lee, and Hicks 
houses ; the following named for the use of cuts or photographs : the 
City Clerk and Park Commissioners of Cambridge, Rev. Alexander 
McKenzie, Rev. Edward Abbott, Stephen W. Driver, M.D., Miss Alice 
Longfellow, Mrs. Joseph B. Warner, Miss Elizabeth Harris, Miss Eliza- 
beth E. Dana, Mrs. Forbes, Mr. Frederick Powell, Mr. Louis F.Weston, 
Caustic and Claflin ; the following publishers : Little, Brown, & Co., 
for cuts from the works of Samuel Adams Drake ; Ginn & Co., for two 



PREFACE 

cuts from Freese's "Historic Spots'"; the editor of "James Murray, 
Loyalist " ; Houghton, ]\Iifflin & Co. ; the editor of the Harvard Mag- 
azine^ and Harvard Library officials, for the uniform courtesy shown 
and for permission to use manuscript drawings and maps. 

To the many who have helped with words of encouragement, infor- 
mation, and the loan of original documents, the Committee gratefully 
expresses its appreciation. No one sees more clearly than the com- 
pilers the incompleteness of the Historic Guide, but it is a sincere 
attempt to give the public the most important facts out of the great 
mass of material at hand. 

THE PILGRIMAGE COMMITTEE. 



Miss Mariox Brown Fessenden, Chairman 

Miss Caruie J. Aluson 

Mrs. Margaret J. Bradruha- 

Mrs. Adah L. C. Brock 

Mrs. jE>fNiE L. RiciiARnsoN Bunton 

Miss Laura B. Chamherlain 

Miss Elizabeth Ellerv Dana 

Miss Althea M. Dorr 

Mrs. Svbil C. E.'\iERTON 

Mrs. Lilian Fisk Ford 

Mrs. Marv W. Greely Goodridge 

Mrs. Mary Isabella James Gozzaldi 

Miss Elizabeth Harris 

Mrs. Agnes H. Holden 

Miss Eliza Mason Hoppin 

Miss Alice M. Longfellow 

Miss Henrietpa E. McIntire 

Mrs. Sarah R. McKenzie 

Mrs. Nellie Munroe Nash 

Miss Lydia Phillips Stevens 

Mrs. Grace Jones Wardweli 

Mrs. Annie L. Locke Wentworth 

Mrs. Estella Hatch Weston 

Mrs. Isabel Stewart Whitte.'^iore 

Miss Sarah Auce Worcester 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Washington Elm Frontispiece 

Old Mile Stone Title-page 

Harvard Square in 1 863 ....'. Facing page 8 

Meeting-House in College Yard, 1756-1833 " "14 

The Wigglesworth House " " l6- 

Old Parsonage, 1670-1843 " « 18 ' 

A Westerly View of the Colleges in Cambridge, New 

England, engraved by Paul Revere " " 20 ^ 

Wadsworth House, built in 1726 " "22 

John Hicks House " "58 

Apthorp House " "76 

William Winthrop House " "80 

Read House " "90 

Brattle House " "90 

Vassall House — Medical Headquarters. Exterior. . . « « 94, 

Vassall House — Medical Headquarters. Interior ... " "96 

Washington's Headquarters — John Vassall-Craigie House " " 100 

Tory Row " "104 

House of Judge Joseph Lee " " IO6 

Thomas Lee House " "108 

Lechmere-Sewall House " "110 

Fayerweather House " "110 

Elmwood " "112 

Cambridge Common in 1805, from a watercolor sketch 

by D. Bell " "122 

Christ Church in 1792, from an old engi-aving .... " "130 

The Old Towne Burying Ground " " 134 

Headstone, Old Burying Ground, Garden street ... " "136 

Washington Elm and House of Deacon Josiah Moore . . " "140 

Waterhouse House " "142 

Watson-Davenport House, Massachusetts Avenue near 

Rindge Avenue " " 146 

The Davenport Tavern, formerly corner of Massachusetts 

Avenue and Beech street " "146 

Cooper-Hill- Austin House. Back and Front " "148 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Tj , u .... Facing page 158 

Holmes House °\ 

Phillips- Ware-Norton House ^^ '^ \Q% 

House of Chief Justice Dana ^^ u 172 

The Inman House ^^ "180 

Fort Washington 



WOODCUTS IN TEXT 



Page 28 
« 30 



Harvard College Lottery Ticket ,*,''" 

Third Court House, 1758, from dra^^ing in College Library . ^^ ^^^ 

House of Moses Richardson 

MAPS 

«^ , -J • ,nA7 . . . Inside front cover 

Mapof Cambridge m 1907 Pacre S^ 

Map A. Cambridge Village "'^ 82 

MapB. Cambridge in 1775 . ^^ « 124 

Map C. Cambridge Common in 1775 



ITINERARY 



For the convenience of strangers a map of Cambridge, of the present 
time, has been placed on the inside front cover of this guide, and the 
following route laid out : — 

Harvard Square and neighborhood, pp. 8-20, 29-83. See Map A, p. 34. 
Harvard College Yard, pp. 20-28 
Brattle Street. See Map B, p. 83. 

No. 42, Brattle House, Social Union, pp. 83-91, 

No. 55, Read House, pp. 91-92. 

Corner of Mason street. Episcopal Theological School, pp. 92-94. 

No. 90, John Fiske House, p. 99. 

No. 94, Vassall House, pp. 94-99. 

No. 105, Craigie-Longfellow House, Washington's Headquarters, pp. 99-104. 

No. 121, Worcester House, p. 105. 

No. 145, Site of Lechmere-Sewall-Riedesel House, pp. 104-107. 

No. 149, Lechraere-Sewall-Riedesel House, p. 107. 

No. 153, Thomas Lee House, p. 109. 

No. 159, Judge Joseph Lee House, pp. 107-109. 

No. 175, Ruggles-Fayerweather House, pp. 109-110. 
Elmwood Avenue, Oliver-Gerry-Lowell House, pp. 110-119. 

MouKT Auburn vStreet, turn to left, corner Channing street, Burial-place of Revo- 
lutionary soldiers, p. 113. 

Near corner of Hawthorn street, Dudley-Lowell willows, p. 6. 
Ash Street, site of Palisades, cross Brattle street to Mason to Common. 

Around Common, Map C, p. 124, pp. 121-142. Washington Elm, p. 123. 

To right, Radcliffe College, pp. 126-127. Christ Church, pp. 128-134. Old 
Burying-ground, pp. 134-139. 

To left, from Elm, Waterhouse street, Waterhouse House, pp. 141-142. 
Garden Street, to Harvard Observatory and Botanic Garden, p. 141. 
LiNN^AN Street, No. 21, Cooper-Hill- Austin House, oldest house standing in original 

state, pp. 148-152. 
Massachusetts Avenue, old Turnpike to Lexington, pp. 6-7, 142-148. 

Return to Common, Holmes place, pp. 153-160. Turn to left. 
KiRKLAND Street, King's Highway, pp. 5, 7, 160-164. 

No. 7, Birthplace of Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson, p. 160. 

Site of Danforth-Foxcroft Estate, pp. 160-163. Memorial Hall, p. 163. 

Oxford street to Agassiz Museum of Comparative Zoology (glass flowers). Pea- 
body Ethnological Museum, Semitic Museum, Divinity avenue, p. 164. 

Irving street, Phillips-Norton House, p. 164. 



ITINERARY 

Massachusetts Avenue, corner of Dana, site of home of Chief-Justice Francis Dana, 
pp. 164-170. 
Corner Inman street, City Hall, site of Inman House, pp. 171-177. 
Brookline street, corner of Auburn, Inman House, p. 171. 
Bhookline Street to Allston, Fort Washington, pp. 179-180. 

East Cambridge, site of Landing of the British soldiers. Court House, Prison, Probate 
Office, Registry of Deeds, pp. 180-185. 



BUILDINGS NOW STANDING ERECTED 1642-1800. 

* Slightly altered. 

** But little of the original remaining, 
*** Date approximate. 
**1642. Henry Vassall House, 94 Brattle street. 

1657. Cooper-Hill-Austin House, 21 liinnaean street. 
(?)1692. Dickson-Goddard-P'itch House, Massachusetts avenue, near Cedar 

street. 
♦**1700. Hooper-Lee-Nichols House, 159 Brattle street. 

1720. Massachusetts Hall, College Yard. 
***1726. Reed (Read) House, r>5 Brattle street. 
1726. Wadsworth House, College Yard. 
*1727. Brattle House, 42 Brattle street. 
1744. Holden Chapel, College Y'^ard. 
***1740. William Vassall-Waterhouse-Ware House, 7 Waterhouse street. 
1763. Hollis Hall, College Yard. 
*1756. Inman House, Brookline and Auburn streets. 
1757. Jacob Watson House, 2162 Massachusetts avenue. 
**1758. Court House, Palmer street. 

1759. John Vassall-Craigie-Longfellow House. 105 Brattle street. 
***1760. Leclimere-Sewell-Riedesel House, 149 Brattle street. 

***1760. Marrett-Ruggles-Fayerweather-Wells-Nevioll House, 175 Brattle street. 
***1760. Oliver-Gerry-Lowell House, Elnnvood avenue. 

1760. Christ Church, Garden street. 

***1760. Edward Marrett House, Mount Auburn street. 

***1760. John Hicks House, 67 Dunster street. 

***1760. Apthorp House, I>inden street. 

1766. Harvard Hall, College Yard. 

***1790. Phillips-Ware-Norton House, Irving street. 

***1799. Thomas Lee House, 153 Brattle street. 

* Professor John and Madame Hannah Winthrop House, Boylston and 
Mount Auburu streets. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 



THE OLD TOWN OF NEWTOWNE, AND ITS FOUNDER. 

New Towne, on the Charles (now Cambridge), was a village bounded north- 
erly by Harvard square, westerly by Brattle square and Eliot street, southerly 
by the river and easterly by Holyoke street, then very crooked. It consisted 
of four streets parallel with the river, crossed at nearly right angles by four 
streets running north and south. Crooked (Holyoke) street was the most 
easterly of these: next came Watpr r^Dnntsfpr'* itrat^t cr,^ -mr. 



/"0^-.t1«4.^ 



ERRATA AND ADDENDA 

Page 123, third line, for " 1869" read " September, 1872." 

Page 127, fourth paragraph, third Hne, for "Judge Samuel Phillips and 
Prescott Fay," read " Judge Samuel Phillips Prescott Fay." 

Page 143, first line of last paragraph, for " Judge " read " Madame," the 
reference being to the estate of Madame John Mico (Katherine Brattle) 
Wendell. 

Page l63, last line of thii'd paragraph, instead of "a. son of Senator 
Hoar," read " Samuel, son of Judge Hoar of Concord." 

On map A, No. 30, the Apthorp House has been placed too far south, 
the house stands but a little way back from Braintree street, now Massachu- 
setts avenue. 

Since going to press, the compilers of this guide have learned that in 
the December, 1906, number of the Clavian, the magazine of the Bury 
Grammar School, Lancashire, England, Mr. William Hewitson publishes the 
baptism of the first president of Harvard College and the burial of his 
father. The extract from the Bury Parish Record reads : 

"Baptisms, Heniy Dunster at Bury, November 26, l609." 
"Burials. Henry Dunster, of Baleholt, September l6, 1646." 



^f I-'-' 



New Towne either by ship or the ferry, landing at the "sufficient bridge," at 
the foot of Water (Dunster) street. His attention would be drawn at once 

1 



ITINERARY 

Massachusetts Avenue, corner of Dana, site of home of Chief-Justice Francis Dana, 
pp. 164-170. 
Corner Inraan street. City Hall, site of Inman House, pp. 171-177. 
Brookline street, corner of Auburn, Inman House, p. 171. 
Bhookline Street to Allston, Fort Washington, pp. 179-180, 

Eastt Cambridge, site of Landing of the British soldiers, Court House. Prison, Probate 
Office, Registry of Deeds, pp. 180-185. 



BUILDINGS NOW STANDING ERECTED 1642-1800. 

* Slightly altered. 

*• But little of the original remaining. 
*** Thitft .annroximate. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 



THE OLD TOWN OF NEWTOWNE, AND ITS FOUNDER. 

New Towne, on the Charles (now Cambridge), was a village bounded north- 
erly by Harvard square, westerly by Brattle square and Eliot street, southerly 
by the river and easterly by Holyoke street, then very crooked. It consisted 
of four streets parallel with the river, crossed at nearly right angles by four 
streets running north and south. Crooked (Holyoke) street was the most 
easterly of these; next came Water (Dunster) street and Wood (Boylston) 
street, the most westerly being a semi-circular road, called, at the river end, 
Marsh lane (Eliot street), and, towards the north, Creek lane (Brattle square). 
The street running parallel with the river, and nearest to it, was Marsh lane 
(South street) next Long lane (Winthrop street) then Spring lane (Mount 
Auburn street), the present Harvard square being called Braintree street, 
after the old English home of some of the earliest settlers. 

The land was apportioned in house lots of an acre or, more commonly, 
half an acre, called the home lot, with farm and wood lots in different places 
some distance away. Of all the houses of New Towne, not one remains, and 
of only one have we a picture, the house (later called the Wigglesworth 
House) that stood in the college yard, on Braintree street, built for the flrst 
pastor, the Rev. Thomas Hooker. Probably the houses were like the timber 
houses of their day in England, with a large square chimney in the centre. 
We know that thatched houses were forbidden; they must have been tiled 
or shingled. 

Wood, in his "New England Prospect," written in 1633, thus describes New 
Towne: "This is one of the neatest and best compacted towns of New 
England, having many fine structures, with many handsome contrived 
streets. The inhabitants, most of them, are very rich, and well stored with 
cattle of all sorts, having many hundred acres of land paled in with a 
general fence, which is about a mile and a half long, which secures all 
their weaker cattle from the wild beasts." We wish he might have given 
a more definite description of one of the "fair structures." But a few re- 
mained till within the memory of some now living; these we shall later 
describe. 

The would-be settler, or the visitor from Boston, usually approached 
New Towne either by ship or the ferry, landing at the "sufficient bridge," at 
the foot of Water (Dunster) street. His attention would be drawn at once 

1 



2 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

to the fine mansion of Governor Thomas Dudley, overlooking the river. At 
the corner of Marsh lane (South street) a tablet now marks the spot. 

Governor Thomas Dudley, the founder of Cambridge, is a connecting link 
between us and English history. His father. Captain Roger Dudley, was 
killed in the Battle of Ivry, having been sent by Queen Elizabeth to aid 
the King of Navarre. After serving several years as page in the family of 
Lord Compton, where, in the words of Cotton Mather, "he had an oppor- 
tunity to learn courtship and whatever belonged to civility and good be- 
havior," Thomas Dudley received, in 1597, a commission as captain from 
Queen Elizabeth, to assist Henry of Navarre in the siege of Amiens, then in 
the hands of the Spaniards. On the conclusion of peace, he returned to his 
native town, Northampton, where he married Dorothy Torke, "a gentle- 
woman of good estate and good extraction." He was then appointed to 
the position of clerk to Judge Nicolls, a jurist of high reputation for special 
judiciary endowments and exemplary integrity. This intimate association 
must have been of inestimable value in iittinp: Dudley for the part he was 
to take in moulding our early forms of government. 

Judge Nicolls died in 1616, when Dudley was forty years of age. During 
the fourteen years which elapsed before the great emigration, he was 
steward to the Earl of Lincoln, brother of the Lady Arbella Johnson, his 
duties including the management of many estates and the collection of in- 
come. The affairs of the earl were "under great entanglements," owing to 
years of mismanagement, but, by prudent, careful direction, Dudley found 
means, in a few years, to discharge all the great debts. Mather writes: "The 
Earl, finding him so to be, would never, after his acquaintance with him, 
do a/ny business of moment without Mr. Dudley's counsel of advice." Of 
strong religious convictions, of firm moral and intellectual fibre, polished 
and courtly in manner, his views of life broadened by his sojoumi in France, 
with the advantages of noble birth, of wide and varied observation and ex- 
perience, Thomas Dudley, at the ripe age of fifty-four, joined the great emi- 
gration to America. 

The "Arbella," named for the beautiful Lady Arbella Johnson, sister of the 
Earl of Lincoln, sailed from Southampton, England, March 22, 1630, bearing 
the royal charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and, among other dis- 
tinguished men, the two who were to play the most important roles in the 
establishment of the colony, John Winthrop, governor, with his two sons, 
and Thomas Dudley, deputy-governor, with his wife (Dorothy Torke), his 
son Samuel and four daughters. After an unusually rough passage, they 
arrived off Salem harbor, June 22, 1630. But "Salem pleased them not," and, 
after a few days, they went in search of another abode suitable for a cap- 
ital city. Two expeditions were sent out, one led by John "Winthrop, the 
other by Thomas Dudley. Each made a different selection, but finally com- 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 3 

promised on Charlestown. Want of water and other reasons led them to 
seek a more favorable location, and New Towne was chosen. They agreed 
to build there, but Governor Winthrop removed his home to Boston, and 
of the government only Dudley and the secretary, Simon Bradstreet, re- 
mained in Cambridge. 

During the twenty-two years of his connection with the Massachusetts 
Bay Colony, Thomas Dudley filled, for seventeen years, the first or second 
place in the gift of the people. He believed in rotation in office and the dates 
of his election as governoi", recurring somewhat regularly after a period of five 
years, indicate that he carried this principle into practice. Governor Dud- 
ley was active in the founding of Harvard College. His name and that of 
Mr. Bellingham head the list of the committee of twelve appointed by the gen- 
eral court, November 15, 1637, to consider its establishment. He signed the 
charter and was in the board of overseers until his death. 

The first house in Cambridge, that built by Governor Dudley (on the corner 
of Dunster and South streets), in the spring of 1631, was probably a large, 
commodious mansion, suitable for the entertainment of public and private 
friends. One of the epitaphs called forth by his death describes the governor 
as follows: 

"In looks a prodigal, they say 

A living cyclopedia; 

Of histories of church and priest 

A full compendium at least; 

A table-talker rich in sense. 

And witty, without wit's pretense; 

An able champion in debate, 

Whose words lacked numbers, but not weight; 

And of that faith both sound and old. 

Both Catholic and Christian too. 

A soldier trusty, tried and true; 

New England's senate's crowning grace, 

In merit truly as in place; 

Condemned to share the common doom, 

Reposes here in Dudley's tomb." 

Could We have stepped into his study, we should have found among the 
books he brought from England a "General History of the Netherlands." 
This country had contributed largely to the Puritan ideas of religion, educa- 
tion and liberty, and we may easily believe it was one of his constant 
studies. "The Turkish History" and "Swedish Intelligencer" indicate 
breadth of investigation. His "Livius" and Latin dictionary and eight 
French books point to his classical taste, Camden's "Annals of Queen Eliz- 
abeth" and "Commentaries of the Wars of France" would have had a per- 
sonal interest to one who had lived through those times and who, ae well as 
his father, had fought in France. Books in theology, history, law and educa- 
tion all reflect his liberality of mind. 



4 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

Could we have looked into the dining room, when no visitors were present, 
We should have found gathered around the family board Mrs. Dorothy 
Dudley, the "worthy matron of unspotted life," Samuel, the eldest son, 
who, soon after, married Mary, daughter of Governor Winthrop; Anne, the 
youthful bride of Simon Bradstreet, so gifted by the muses that she has 
been styled the "morning star of American poetry," and the three younger 
sisters, Patience, Sarah and Mercy. 

We should, doubtless, have heard stories from the lips of the governor that 
would be worth preserving; of his life as a page in the family of Lord 
Compton, when he served milady in her bower, or followed milord to the 
camp; of his experiences at a soldier in France; of his clerkship to that 
eminent jurist, Judge Nicolls; and of his part in the great emigration to 
America. 

But Cambridge was not long to keep this distinguished settler. When 
Rev. Thomas Hooker and the Braintree Company left to found Hartford, 
in Connecticut, Governor Thomas Dudley removed to Ipswich and from there 
to Roxbury, where his wife died, in 1643. Soon after, he married Katherine, 
widow of Samuel Hagburne, and had a second family of three children— Jo- 
seph, Deborah and Paul. He died in Roxbury, July 31, 1653, in the seventy- 
seventh year of his age, and was buried in one of the oldest cemeteries in 
New England, at the corner of Washington and Eustis streets, Roxbury. 

Is it not strange that, with the exception of the tablet that marks the 
site of his house, there is no memorial of this illustrious man in the city which 
he founded, no avenue, no square, no monument bearing his name? 

S. A. W. 

THE CHARLES RIVER. FERRY AND GREAT BRIDGE. 

THE CHARLES RIVER.— The Charles River, anciently called Quineboquln, 
was the natural boundary between two hostile tribes of Indians. It rises in 
Hopkinton, and, flowing in a circuitous course, enters Boston harbor at 
Charlestown. It is navigable for sloops and schooners of several hundred tons 
burden, as far as Brighton. At the time of the American Revolution, four 
fortifications were erected on its banks: Forts Washington, No. 1, Putnam, 
and a three-gun battery at Captain's Island. 

FERRY. — In 1635, a ferry was established across the Charles River at the 
southerly end of Dunster street, and was the only route from Cambridge to 
Boston, by the way of Roxbury. In 1636, tlie town ordered that Joseph Cooke, 
the friend and pastor of Rev. Mr. Shepard (who lived on Holyoke street, near 
Holyoke place), "should keep the ferry and have a penny ov- 
er and a half-penny on lecture days." As there was a large 
amount of travel on the ferry, especially on lecture days, and this 
means of crossing the river was considered dangerous, it was decided to 
erect a bridge at the foot of Brighton (now Boylston) street. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 5 

THE GREAT BRIDGE.— The Great Bridge derived its name from the fact 
that, up to this time, it was the largest and finest in the colony. It was built 
in 1662, at a cost of £200. The cost of maintaiuiug it was so great that 
the court decided, in 1670, that tolls should be taken. In September, 1685, 
a high tide swept this bridge away, and, until it was rebuilt in 1690, ferriage 
was resumed. When Newton was incorporated as a separate town, tolls 
were abolished, and it was ordered that Cambridge should pay two-sixths of 
the cost of maintaining the bridge; Newton, one-sixth; and the remaining 
three-sixths at the public charge of the county of Middlesex. Newton was ex- 
empted from its share in 1781. When Lexington was incorporated, in 1712- 
13, and West Cambridge, in 1807, they shared in this expense until 1860. In 
1862, the general court finally settled the matter by making Cambridge and 
Brighton share the expense of the bridge. It decreed that a draw not less 
than 32 feet wide should be constructed at an equal distance from each abut- 
ment, and that the dividing line should be the opening in the middle of the 
draw. When Lord Percy led his marines from Roxbury to Cambridge, he 
found the planks removed from the Great Bridge. As the frugal Commit- 
tee of Safety had unwisely piled the boards on the Cambridge side, Lord 
Percy ordered some of his soldiers to cross on the stringers and replace 

enough of them to allow the troops to pass over. 

N. M. N. 



THE KING'S HIGHWAY. 

Charlestown and Watertown were settled before Cambridge. A pathway 
led from one of these towns to the other, which was later made the King's 
Highway. It entered the town along the present Kirkland street, passed 
Holmes place, crossed the common to the Washington Elm, then through 
Mason and Brattle streets and Elmwood avenue, where it passed the up- 
per ferry (to Brighton) and then continued on to Watertown. In the earliest 
times, this was the only road. 

The first settlement was between this road and the river, south of the com- 
mon, and the first thing that Governor Dudley and the new settlers did, 
in 1631, was to widen the Charles River "for convenience of ships," making 
a canal, or creek, "twelve foot broad and seven foot deep," so that ships 
could land at South street. It came along the side of Eliot street, then 
called Creek lane, as fur as Brattle square, where, in 1636, a causeway and 
foot-bridge over it were constructed. This canal was built by John Masters 
and cost thirty pounds, which was levied out of the several plantations. 
That same winter, the ferry at the foot of Dunster street was made more safe 
by the construction of a bridge down to low water mark, on the Cambridge 
side, and a broad ladder, on the Brighton side, "for convenience of land- 
ing." 



6 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAIMBRIDGE 

THE PALISADES. 

The next work undertaken, after the creek was made, was the fortifications, 
and the several plantations of New England were assessed sixty pounds to 
build a "Pallysadoe about the New Town." On February 3, 1632, Deputy- 
Governor Dudley began the work with great enthusiasm. A fosse was dug, 
willow trees planted and within this a heavy wooden wall was begun. Wall 
and fosse are gone, though the latter could be traced up to eighty years 
ago. To us, only the venerable willows remain, mute witnesses to the fore- 
thought of Dudley and the industry of the earliest settlers. Dr. Holmes says 
that above one thousand acres were enclosed. The palisade began on the 
bank of the Charles, at Windmill Hill (foot of Ash street), just west of 
which still stand the "five willows at the causeway's end," that gave the 
name to one of James Russell Lowell's collections of poems. On Windmill 
Hill a windmill was early erected for grinding corn, as there was no water- 
mill nearer than Watertown, but, in August, 1632, it was removed to Boston, 
because it would only grind with a westerly wind. 

The palisade ran northerly across the highway and continued between 
Chauncy and Waterliouse streets, crossing the turnpike near Jarvis sti-eet 
to Oxford street, where all trace of it was lost. In March, 1632, it was de- 
cided to pale in the Neck, and forty-two men were appointed to take charge 
of the work, havins from two to seventy rods each, according to their laud 
holdings. Thisi fence began at the marsh, near the corner of Holyoke place 
and Mount Auburn street, passed the northwesterly angle of Gore Hall, then 
easterly, crossing Cambridge street near Ellsworth avenue, following the 
Somerville line to a creek a few rods easterly of the track of the Grand 
Junction Railroad. 

THE TURNPni:E (ROAD TO MEXOTOMY). 

When the Great Bridge was built, in 1662, a causeway 
(now Boylston street) connected it with the town and, going northerly, be- 
came the turnpike which passed the college buildings and, skirting the east 
side of the common, crossing the King's Highway at Holmes place, continued 
up what is now Massachusetts avenue to Cambridge Farms (Lexington). 
This was a real country road, deep in dust in summer and muddy or 
rutty, according to the temperature, in winter. Here and there might be seen 
a tree left from the original forest, or a buttonwood or elm planted by 
some settler before his house, but it was mostly hot and unshaded. On the 
left, opposite Holmes place, stood the famous Oak Tree, where the freeman 
assembled to vote In the early times. 

Farmhouses, with pointed or gambrel roofs, stood facing the town, with 
gables towards the road, and a long lean-to at the back, towards the 
north. The well-sweep was a conspicuous object near the house. In the door- 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 7 

yard, paved with round beach stones, stood clumps of lilacs, and in the box 
border under the southern windows grew tlie bright old-fasliioned flowers. 
Bushes and underbrush lined both sides of the road; here and there a pond ran 
across it, through which the horses splashed and the foot passengers 
crossed by small railed bridges. On the left, after passing Linnaean 
street, there was a slight rise known as Jones's Hill, on which stood the 
ghastly gallows. 

Over the bridge and causeway and up this turnpike road Lord Percy 
marched, with the reinforcements, in the hot mid-day sunshine, on his way to 
Lexington. Through the closed blinds of the farmhouse windows peeped the 
women and children, for most of the men, roused by the midnight alarm, 
had gone to meet the British. Now and again, the soldiers broke ranks 
to drink the cool well water and the girls could admire the gay uniforms 
at shorter range. Along the upper part of this road, too, north of Beech 
street, the main body of the British troops had marched between mid- 
night and early morning, for history says they landed at Lechmere Point, 
crossed the marshes to Milk road (Somerville) and marched through 
Beech street to the avenue, and so to Lexington, and along the turnpike 
road many, both patriots and British, laid down their lives. Thus to the 
turnpike belongs the fame of April 19, 1775. 

Near the crossing of the two roads in Holmes place was General Ward's 
headquarters, at the beginning of the Revolution, and both ways must have 
been alive with officers and messengers then. The King's Highway was 
different from the turnpike. Before the Revolution, save where it crossed 
the common, it was bordered by fine estates. It was along the lower part 
of this road (now Kirkland street) which passed through the Danforth-Poxcroft 
estate that General Prescott led his brave soldiers to Bunker Hill, during 
the night of June 16, 1775. The upper part of the highway (now Brattle 
street) was occupied by the fine houses of the king's sympathizers and was 
called Tory Row. These homes, deserted by their owners, were taken by 
the patriots for hospitals, for medical headquarters and the finest of them 
all for the commander-in-chief's quarters. It was down this road that "Wash- 
ington and his officers made their entry into Cambridge, on July 2, 1775, audit 
was down this road that the evidence of success of the patriot cause cheered 
their hearts when General Knox brought into town, on forty ox-sleds, the arms 
and ammunition taken at Ticonderoga. 

It was along this road, too, that, in November, 1777, the prisoners of war 
of Burgoyne's army straggled into town, among themi the Hessian general 
Riedesel and his family. For a year, all the Cambridge highways were 
made gay by these red-coats, who made the best they could of their imprison- 
ment and even the turnpike has Its tradition of their sports. It is said 
that Burgoyne's officers laid out a mile track for running races, starting 



8 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

from the burial ground, up the turnpike to Linnaean street, through that 

and down Garden street to the starting- place. 

• It would take too long to tell of all the noted men whose feet have trod 

these ways; but what has been written may serve to give a character to each 

of the roads. Both led to Boston — the turnpike over causeway and bridge 

through Roxbury over the Neck, eight miles to Boston Common; the highway 

through Somerville and Charlestown, over the ferry to the North End — and 

both have their share of historic fame. 

M. I. J. G. 

HARVARD SQUARE. 

All the houses that were facing Harvard square during the Revolution are 
gone and have been replaced by modern buildings. The estates which in the 
early times, faced Harvard square (then Braintree street), making the corners 
of Boylston, Dunster, and Holyoke streets, are described under those streets. 
Later, these estates were cut up into small lots, and shops and houses built 
there. The store of John Owen, publisher, the University Bookstore, stood on 
the east corner of the square and Holyoke street, and deserves mention. 
In 1849, it became the property of John Bartlett, the editor of "Familiar Quo- 
tations" and other valuable reference books, and was the resort of the profes- 
sors and authors of the nineteenth century. 

The west side of the square was part of Simon Bradstreet's grant, and 
later became the property of Herbert Pelham. It was bought by Caleb 
Prentice, in 1747, from Pelham's heirs, and extended back to Brattle square. 
A large part of it was purchased by Stephen Palmer; by bequest and purchase 
it ultimately came into the possession of the college, now the owners of the 
brick block standing here, called College House. 

At the Revolutionary period, a large handsome, gambrel-roofed house stood 
next to, and just north of, the court house (now Lyceum Building), where 
Professor Samuel Webber lived before he became president of the college. A 
drawing of the house made in 1796, is in the college library. Further north, 
stood Old College House, a three-story wooden building with brick ends, occu- 
pied as a dormitory by the students. Burgoyne's troops were quartered In it. 
Near by was the apothecary shop of Osgood and Farrington, which is men- 
tioned in a recently published letter, written before the Revolution by Nathaniel 
Walker Appleton, the son of the minister, as being very "flash." 

Near tlie corner of Church street were three old houses. One was the house 
of Deacon Kidder^ the last to go was a little old black house, whose front was 
covered with white roses, described in Lowell's "Cambridge Thirty Years 
Ago," as the barber-shop of Marcus Reemy, that strange foreigner, still re- 
membered by a few now living as having given them sticks of candy when as 
children thoy were taken there by their parents to have their hair cut. Behind 
was the house occupied by Miss Dana, who taught the little girls to sew. 
For more than two centuries. Harvard square has been the true centre of 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 9 

Cambridge. Until tlie middle of the niueteeuth century it was commonly called 
"The Village." From it still diverge the roads to Boston, Charlestown, Brighton, 
Watertown and Arlington, with Lexington and Concord just bejond. Here is 
the college yard, and here, in the early history of the town, were found the 
town house, as the court house was called, the meeting house and the burying 
ground. Here, too, were placed the town pump and scales, and in the centre 
of the square was built, early in the nineteenth century, the market house, the 
lower part of which was occupied by the twin-brothers, Snow, as a fish market, 
also delightfully described by James Russell Lowell in "Cambridge Thirty Years 
Ago." Great elm trees lined either side of the road until the rush of ti'avel 
necessitated their removal. 

In 1830 the market house was removed as an encroachment on public laudr;, 
and it was soon followed by the disappearance of the meeting house, the town 
house, the old houses in the college yard, the trees, the pump and the standard 
scales. The county-seat has been transferred to East Cambridge, the city hav- 
ing always been the shire town of Middlesex county, and the municipal head- 
quarters. The largest stores and the chief manufacturing plants are now located 
between Dana Hill and the Boston line. 

Thus the old "village" has become the modern Harvard square, lined on one 
side by the college yard, and on the other by stores and dormitories, and filled 
day and night with busy electric cars, pouring a great stream of visitors into 
the city. 

When Cambridge was first settled, in 1630, it was called Newtowne, and its 
location was determined by Deputy-Governor Dudley, as he thought it would be 
an admirable place for the seat of government, being safe from attack by sea, 
and easily defensible. The original plan of making this the seat of government 
was not carried out, however, only two of the ten who had agreed to build 
here, Deputy-Governor Dudley and his son-in-law, Simon Bradstreet, fulfilling 
their promise. 

In spite of this handicap in its very founding, the town thrived from the first, 
and today we find it not only the leading centre of learning in the land, the 
home of Harvard and Radcliffe colleges, and numerous public and private pre- 
paratory schools, but also a manufacturing city of no mean proportions. Some 
of the largest printing houses in the country are here, and here, also, are made 
nearly every article, large and small, necessary to the comfort of its citizens, 
from automobiles and pianos to egg-beaters. 

With so many varied business and intellectual attractions, to say nothing of 
the charm of the residential part of the city, it is not surprising that the little 
handful of villagers of 1630 has grown to the Cambridge of today, with its 
nearly one hundred thousand inhabitants. The true Cantabrigian may well be 
loyal to his birthplace and proud of her record. May the history the city is now 
making be as creditable as that of the past. 



10 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

THE MEETING-HOUSES. 

It was in Cambridge, England, possibly within the walls of the university 
there, that the agreement was made to embark for "the Plantation now in 
hand for New England." Winthrop and Dudley were of the twelve signers 
of that compact, whose consequence was, as it was written, "God's glory and 
the Church's good." 

In 1630, ten years after the landing of the Pilgrims, at Plymouth, "John 
Winthrop and his fleet of emigrrants" landed in Boston. About three months 
after this settlement. Governor Winthrop and Deputy Governor Thomas 
Dudley, with the advice of a board of assistants, thought it advisable "to es- 
tablish, in the vicinity of the adjacent settlement, a fortified place." December 
28, 1630, they selected, for this purpose, the land in the vicinity of what is 
now Harvard Square, Cambridge. Houses were erected here in 1631 by Dep- 
uty Governor Thomas Dudley and a few others. At this date, the settle- 
ment numbered about forty or fifty houses and a few hundred souls. Like 
the Pilgrims, hardly had they provided a shelter for their families before they 
began to build a meeting-house, which was finished in 1632. 

FIRST MEETING HOUSE, 1632-1651 (A4). 

We know little of this building. It was probably built of logs, hand hewn, 
from trees cut on or near the land on which it stood. The first meeting- 
house, located in the midst of the settlement, was on the westerly side of 
Dunster Street, a little north of a point midway between Mount Auburn and 
Winthrop Streets. In 1880, by order of the city of Cambridge, the following 
inscription was cut in the foundation wall of the bakery at the corner of 
Mount Auburn and Dunster Streets: 

"SITE OF THE 
FIRST MEETING-HOUSE IN CAMBRIDGE, 
A. D. 1632." 

It was then called the "First Church of Christ," and was the eighth in 
the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The first church organization, in the Massa- 
chusetts Colony, was effected at Salem in 1629. 

This first meeting-house was a plain and simple structure. "There was no 
altar, no choir, nothing even that in older countries would be called a pulpit; 
only a desk, with seats before it for deacons and elders and rows of benches 
beyond for men on tiie one side and for women on the other." * * * "It 
may have been bare, not because its builders loved to have it so, but because 
they had not the wealth or the skill to give it beauty." 

At first, the congregation was called together by the beating of a drum; 
later, the little edifice had a bell, for in the early church account books are 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 11 

two entries: one in 1640, "for a tacklin for the bell rope 14d.;" again, in 
1643, "payd brother Manning for a bell rope 18s." 

"This parish was organized when John Milton was a young 
man and when the memory of the great days of Elizabeth 
was still fresh. The men of the parish were Englishmen, full of the 
ardor of Puritanism. Their religious beliefs had all the definiteness of outline 
which belonged to the thought of that day. The meeting-house was not a 
temple set apart from ordinary use for worship alone. It was the town 
house. Here the townsmen met to transact public business. If need be, it 
would be a place of refuge. In some communities, it served as a fort. To 
those who worshipped in it on Sunday, there was nothing incongruous in its 
other uses. Men belonged to the Parish because they lived here. The bare 
New England meeting-house takes a dignity of its own, when it symbolizes a 
union of civic virtues and religious earnestness." 

"August 14, 1632," says the record, "the Braintree company (which had be- 
gun to sit down at Mount WoUaston) was removed to Newtown." Rev. 
Thomas Hooker, who in England had been the minister of some of the 
earliest settlers, came over here at their earnest desire. "He arrived in Bos- 
ton, September 4, 1633, and proceeded to Newtown, where he was received 
with open arms by an affectionate and pious people." On October 11, 1633, 
he was ordained, with Mr. Samuel Stone, teacher. 

As early as May, 1634, the spirit of dissatisfaction became so general among 
the inhabitants of the Newtown that they proposed to abandon their com- 
paratively pleasant homes and to commence anew, in the wilderness. The 
ostensible reason for removal was lack of sufficient land. In the same year, 
1634, the General Court granted permission "to those who find the town too 
narrow, to remove elsewhere," and Reverend Thomas Hooker and his com- 
pany migrated to Hartford, Connecticut. "His wife was carried in a horse 
litter and they drove 160 cattle and fed of their milk by the way." Several 
people from the neighboring towns removed with them; more than fifty 
families went to Hartford and others elsewhere. Of the families residing 
here in 1635, not more than eleven are known to have remained. Rev. 
Thomas Shepard, with another company, arrived from England, purchased 
the houses and lands of their predecessors and organized a new church, 
even before the actual removal of the former one, embracing the few of its 
members who remained here. In this little edifice, in 1637, met the first 
synod of the churches of the colony, where were gathered probably the whole 
body of the teaching elders and learned divines of New England. Here Anne 
Hutchinson was tried, and here, in 1642, were held the exercises of the first 
Harvard College Comimencement. 

In 1646, a second general synod assembled here, and, after sundry adjourn- 
ments, was dissolved in 1648, having adopted a system of church discipline 



12 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

called the "Cambridge Platform," viz., "a system of church government 
drawn up by a synod at Cambridge in Massachusetts Bay Colony, in 1648." 
"The Congregational churches differed somewhat at that time, some inclining 
to Presbyterianism, some to Independency." "The synod reafRrm/ed the 
Westminster Confession, but recommended a form of church discipline which 
prevails now in the Congregational churches." This meeting-house, although 
it had stood for less than twenty years, had fallen into decay, neither was 
it sufficiently large. At first, it was proposed to repair the house, "with a 
four-square roof and covered with shingles," and a committee was appointed 
to superintend the same. 

SECOND MEETING HOUSE, 1652-1706 (A36). 

But shortly afterwards, March 11, 1649-50, at a general meet- 
ing of the whole town, it was "voted and agreed that the five 
men chosen by the town to repair the meeting-house shall desist from the 
same and agree with the workmen to build a new house, about forty feet 
square and covered as was formerly agreed for the other, and levy a charge 
of their engagements upon the inhabitants of the town." It was also voted, 
and generally agreed, that the new meeting-house shall stand on the watch- 
house hill (in the present college yard near Dane Hall). The new house was 
erected immediately — according to extracts from the town records — January 
13, 1650-51. "February 26, 1651-52, Ordered: That the Townsmen shall make 
sale of the land whereon the old meeting-house stood." 

Rev. Thomas Shepard died August 25, 1649; therefore all of his connections 
must have been with this first meeting-house. Almost a year elapsed be- 
tween his death and the ordination of his successor, during which time the 
new (or second) meeting-house was built. Mr. Jonathan Mitchell was in- 
vited to become the pastor, the successor of Rev. Mr. Shepard, and was or- 
dained August 21, 1650. During Mr. Mitchell's ministry, he encountered two 
special trials, the division of the church and the open opposition of Pres- 
ident Dunster. 

When the first meeting-house was erected, it was the only one in Newtown 
which then embraced the territory between the Charles and the Merrimac 
rivers, and south of the Charles, inchidiug what is now Brighton, Brookline 
and Newton. All persons were expected to attend regularly the town meet- 
ing-house. They either walked or rode on horse back, or came by boats. Nat- 
urally, as time went on, the villagers desired meeting-houses of their own. 
First, the most distant community, now Billerica, applied to be set off from the 
mother church. Next, in 1654, what Is now Newton, petitioned for separation. 
They were partially released, January, 1659-60, and in January, 1661-62, they re- 
ceived permission to establish a church of their own where Rev. John Eliot, Jr., 
was ordained their first minister, July 20, 1664. The experience of this 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 13 

church was repeated by the other churches in the neighboring towns, and 
not until many petitions had been presented in each case did the General 
Court grant them. There is no way of telling the amount of work toward 
this end that was done in the years that elapsed from the presentation of 
the first petition to the granting of the request to form a church. 

Lexington first applied for a separate church in 1682, and its first minister 
was ordained in 1696. Brighton was from 1747 to 1779 in separating from the 
first church, when the inhabitants on the south side of the river were in- 
corporated by the General Court in 1779, as a separate precinct, with au- 
thority to settle a minister and to provide for his support by a parish tax— 
this, nearly half a century after the commencement of regular religious 
services and about thirty-five years after the erection of a meeting-house in 
which public worship was offered throughout the year. 

In 1663, this second meeting-house in Cambridge saw the persecution of the 
Quakers. It would seem that very few pews had been constructed in this 
building, instead of which there were long seats appropriated to individuals, by 
the "seaters of the meeting-house." But early in Mr. Brattle's ministry, March 
14, 1697-98, the town "voted that there should be a pew made and set up between 
Mr. Samuel Gookin's pew and the stairs, on the south-east corner of the meet- 
ing-house, for the family of the ministry." Soon afterwards, pews were 
made and assigned to others. 

This, the second meeting-house, having stood somewhat more than fifty 
years, had become dilapidated and the inhabitants of the town voted, July 
12, 1703, to build a new one, and a committee to have charge of the same was 
chosen. Final action was delayed until December 6, 1705, when it was "voted 
that the sum of £280 be levied on said inhabitants toward the building of 
a new meeting-house amongst them." The ministers who were associated 
with the second meeting-house were the Revs. Jonathan Mitchell, Urian 
Oakes, Nathaniel Gookin and William Brattle. 

THIRD MEETING HOUSE, 1706-1756. 

In the erection of the third meeting-house, mention is made of the building 
of a pew for the president's family, and also of financial assistance given by 
the college, in return for which the privileges to be received by it are given, 
and mention made of the scholars' seats. This third house stood on or near 
the spot occupied by its predecessor and seems to have been opened for 
public worship October 13, 1706, "as Mr. Brattle's records of Baptisms show 
that on that day he first baptized a child in that house, having performed 
a similar service in the College Hall on the previous Sabbath." Rev. Mr. 
Brattle died February 15, 1716-17; his successor, the Rev. Nathaniel Appleton, 
was ordained October 9, 1717. "Voted, August 1, 1718, that a new upper 
gallery be erected." 



14 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAIMBRIDGE 

The General Court met in Cambridge in 1721-22, on account of the small- 
pox epidemic at Boston, the sessions being held in the meeting-house front- 
ing on Harvard street (now Massachusetts avenue), when, after a time, it 
(the Court) had to be again removed by reason of the pestilence which raged 
so fiercely that the college exercises were broken up and the students scat- 
tered. 

In this same year, Judah Monis, who became Hebrew professor at Har- 
V'ard, publicly renounced Judaism and was baptized in this meeting-house. 
May 25, 1725, the people on the westerly side of Menotomy River, in what 
is now Arlington, petitioned the town to consent that they might become 
a separate precinct. The request was renewed in 1728, but was not successful 
until four years later. It was granted December 27, 1732, after several un- 
successful attempts, and Menotomy became a precinct, with practically the 
same bounds which were assigned to it w^hen it was Incorporated a town 
In 1807. Rev. Samuel Cooke was ordained its pastor September 12, 1739. On 
this occasion, the First Church in Cambridge "voted that £25 be given out 
of the church's stock, to the Second Church in Cambridge, to furnish the 
communion table in a decent manner." This silver, when succeeded by a 
finer service, was placed in the care of Deacon Henry "Whittemore, and is 
now (ISOG) in the possession of Mrs. Almira T. Whittemore, of Arlington — a 
part of it being now on exhibition at the Robbins Public Library. 

In 1740, Rev. George Whitefield, the celebrated Wesleyan evangelist, vis- 
ited Cambridge. He severely criticised the •college and New England clergy, 
thus receiving their ill will. He was not allowed to preach in the meeting- 
house, either then or when he again visited the town in 1744-45. 

FOURTH MEETING HOUSE, 1756-1833. 

In 1753, the First Parish resolved to erect a new, or fourth, meeting-house 
and desired the college to defray part of the expenses, in consideration of which 
they were to be granted certain privileges. The erection of the house was 
delayed about three years. "It was raised November 17, 1756, and divine service 
was first performed in it, Jnly 24, 1757." "Meantime, further negotiation was had 
•with the college and a proposition was made to place the new house farther 
up the street, which would very much secure it from fire, as well as render 
the appearance of it much more beautiful, and also would render it absolutely 
necessary. In order to a suitable accommodation of the parish, that they 
should be allowed the use of a part of the president's orchard, behind their 
said new meeting-house, where, when they came to attend on divine worship, 
they might place their horses, chairs, chaises, etc." 

Desiring "to make the said situation of the new meeting-house as con- 
venient as may be," the corporation of Harvard College voted, September 6, 
1756, to grant to the parish the use of a strip of land one hundred and six- 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 15 

teen feet and four inches in length by thirty two feet and ten inches in 
width, on certain conditions, viz., "(1) that the scholars' gallery shall be in 
the front of the said meeting-house, etc.; (2) that the said new meeting-house 
shall front southerly down the street, in the manner the old one now doth; 
(3) that the front of the said new meeting-house to be two and an half or three • 
feet behind the backside of the old meeting-house; (4) that there be a liberty 
for the president of the college to cart into his baclc yard, viz., at the back- 
side of the said new meeting-house, wood, hay, boards, etc., for his own or 
the college use, as there shall be occasion for it." The conditions were ac- 
cepted by a committee of the parish. "The south foundation wall of Dane 
Hall is the same as the north wall of the old meeting-house, so Law and Di- 
vinity rest here on the same base." 

The principal entrance was on the south, facing the pulpit. The auditorium 
was nearly square. It had three galleries. The eastern, before the erection 
of University Hall, with its chapel, was allotted to the students and teachers 
of the college; the western gallery was free; that on the south was occupied 
by the choir. The ground floor was divided into square pews, having seats 
which could be raised on hinges to affoi'd standing room during prayer. When 
the prayers were ended, they were let down with a slam. "Organ there was 
none. The music was supplied by a bass viol, supplemented by some wind 
instruments and a volunteer choir. The hymn-book used was Tate and 
Brady's." The amount paid by the college for this building is stated at £213, 
6s. 8d. If this was exactly one-seventh of the charge (the amount at one 
time agreed to), the whole cost of the new house was £1,493, 6s. 8d.; the 
sum payable by the parish, £1,280, Avas largely subscribed by individuals, as 
appears by manuscript in the library of Harvard College. 

In Harvard Square stood the court-house, and the meeting-house. 
When General Gage was in possession of Boston, a Provincial Congress, with 
John Hancock as president, met in 1774 at Cambridge, first in the court- 
house, then in the meeting-house, the first business being to elect a committee 
of safety and a committee of supplies. In February, the Provincial Con- 
gress again met in the meeting-house and a committee of five was ap- 
pointed to watch the movements of the British troops. The delegates from 
the towns of Massachusetts met here in 1779 and framed the constitution of the 
commonwealth, which the people ratified in 1780. All the public commence- 
ments and solemn inaugurations during more than seventy years were cele- 
brated in this edifice, and no building can compare with it, in the number of 
distinguished men who, at different times, have been assembled within its 
walls. Washington and his brother patriots in arms worshipped here during 
the investment of Boston by the provincial army, in 1775. 

"During the War of 1812, a military company, drafted from Cambridge, their 
term of service having expired, marched into town on a Sunday afternoon, 



16 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

(luring divine service, with drum and fife affronting the sacred traditions of 
the Puritan Sabbath. Tliey halted in front of the meeting-house, filed into 
the western entrance, ascended the stairs with measured tramp, the music not 
ceasing till they had taken their places in the free gallery." It was in the 
midst of the long prayer, which was not interrupted. In 1824, Lafayette was 
welcomed in this building on his return to America. During Commencement 
week, the college always took possession of the meeting-house for the cus- 
tomary exercises, notice being given to pew holders to remove their hymn- 
books and cushions, to protect them from academic abuse. Lafayette occu- 
pied a conspicuous seat on the platform on Commencement Day, 1824. 

Two other churches branched out from this one. In 1759, a subscription 
•was opened for the erection of another edifice in the town. As the result, on 
October 15, 1761, Christ (Episcopal) Church was opened. A new church was 
organized November 6, 1814, under the auspices of Harvard College, which 
withdrew many of the officers and students from the congregation. The 
original church was much enlarged by the establishment and growth of 
villages at Cambridgeport and East Cambridge, and it was subsequently di- 
minished by their incorporation as a separate parish with the organization 
of churches in both villages. About the year 1815, a difference of opinion, 
•which for several years had existed between the Trinitarian and Unitarian 
Congregationalists, attained such prominence as to disturb the relations be- 
tween pastors of churches and to rend the churches themselves. In 1829, 
the church in Cambridge divided for this reason and formed two churches, 
which still exist today, and both societies are strong and active in this city, 
as well as in the denomination to which each belongs. One church is the 
First Church, Unitarian, usually spoken of as the "First Parish;" tlie other, 
the First Church, Congregational, usually spoken of as the "Shepard Memo- 
rial." 

With the division of the church, the two societies built meeting-houses of 
their own and, in 1833, two hundred and one years after the founding of the 
first meeting-house in the town, this edifice, built in 1756, the last town meet- 
ing-house, and home of the original church organization, was removed, and 
the land on which it stood was sold to Harvard College. The Revs. Nathaniel 
Appleton, Timothy Hilliard, and Abiel Holmes (father of Dr. Oliver Wendell 
Holmes) were the pastors settled over this, the fourth meeting-house. 

On February 12, 1886, the two societies united in observing "the two hun- 
dred and fiftieth (250th) anniversary of the settlement of their common an- 
cestor, Thomas Shepard." Exercises in the afternoon were held in the Uni- 
tarian church and cvcnins exercises in the Congregational church, pastors 
and representatives from both societies taking part. 

In 1904, there were forty-four churches in the city of Cambridge, divided 

between fourteen different denominations. 

M. B. F. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 17 



HOOKER-SHEPARD-WIGGLESWORTH HOUSE, 1633-1843 (A34). 

The old parsonage, the home of the ministers of the First Church in Cam- 
bridge, for many years, stood upon hind now within the precincts of the 
college yard, east of Boylston Hall, facing what was then called Braintree 
street, now Massachusetts avenue. 

For thirty-seven years, the parsons had owned and occupied a house built 
by Rev. Thomas Hooker, the first minister of Cambridge, then called New- 
town. He had organized a church of about one hundred members in 1633, 
but in 1636 had removed to Connecticut with practically the whole of his fol- 
lowers, leaving the little town bereft of church and pastor. Immediately they 
took steps to supply the want, and on February 1, 1636, organized the "First 
Church in Cambridge," and installed, as pastor, Rev. Thomas Shepard, who 
but recently had arrived in Boston with a company of about sixty persons. 
They had fled from the mother country to escape religious persecution, Mr. 
Shepard being disguised as a servant to avoid recognition. 

This company bought the houses vacated by those who had gone to Con- 
necticut, Mr. Shepard taking the parsonage which stood about opposite 
Holyoke street, then called Crooked street, near the western end of Boyl- 
ston hall. Here he made his home, and the next year married Joanna, the 
daughter of Rev. Mr. Hooker, his first wife, Margaret, having died only two 
weeks after his arrival in this country. 

Mr. Shepard's ministry lasted thirteen years, and was one of great power 
and usefulness. His sudden death, in 1649, caused general regret all over 
New England. 

His successor was Rev. Jonathan Mitchell; the "Matchless Mitchell," as he 
was termed, on account of his extraordinary mental gifts. He had been or- 
dained but a few months before Mr. Shepard's death, and the bereaved people 
applied to him to fill the vacancy. He stepped into the gap, not only in the 
church, where he was installed, August 21, 1650, but three months later mar- 
ried the widow of his predecessor, and October 9, 1651, purchased the home- 
stead where he resided during the whole period of his ministry, eighteen 
years. It is said of him: "He was a person that held very near communion 
with God, eminent in wisdom, piety, humility, love, self-denial, and of a com- 
passionate and tender heart, surpassing in public spiritedness, a mighty man 
in prayer and eminent at standing in the gap. In a word, he was a man rich- 
ly furnished and eminently fitted for his work." 

After his death, July 9, 1668, the church was without a settled pastor for 
three years, during which time the pulpit was supplied by President Chaun- 
cy and others. 

2 



18 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

PARSONAGE. 1670-1843 (A32). 

Meantime, the church came to the decision that It would be an advantage 
to erect a parsonage of its own, and a public meeting was held in 1669 to con- 
sider the matter. According to the records, it was agreed upon at that meet- 
ing that "there should be a house either bought or built for that end to 
entertain a minister, and a committee was chosen for that purpose which 
took care for the same, and to that end bought four acres of land of "Widow 
Beale to set the house upon, and, in the year 1670, there was a house erected 
upon the said land of 36 feet long and 30 feet broad, this house* to remain 
the church's, and to be the dwelling place of such a minister and officer aa 
the Lord shall be pleased to supply us withal, during the time be shall sup- 
ply that place amongst us." 

This glebe of four acres is part of the present Harvard College grounds, 
except the southern boundary, which, when the street was widened some 
years ago, was taken into Massachusetts avenue. 

The first parson to occupy the newly built parsonage was Rev. Urian 
Oakes, who, by invitation of the church, came over from England, July, 1671, 
and was installed on November 8 of the same year. The people received him 
with great joy, and the church and town united in keeping a day of thanks- 
giving that the place of Mr. Mitchell was thus satisfactorily filled. Mr. Oakes 
remained pastor for ten years, during six of which he held the office of 
president of Harvard College. 

An assistant in the work of the ministry was provided him in the person of 
Rev. Nathaniel Gookin, who succeeded to the pastoral office upon the 
death of Mr. Oakes, July 25, 1681, and was installed. November 15, 1682. 

Mr. Gookin was the son of Major General Daniel Gookin, who commanded 
the military forces of the colony, and was one of the most prominent men 
of his time. He befriended and aided the apostle Eliot in his labors among 
the Indians, and his daughter Elizabeth married John Eliot, Jr., the oldest son 
of the apostle. Though the father was so active in public affairs, the son de- 
voted himself almost exclusively to his church and parish, giving his best 
thought and strength to those under his care. 

He died, August 7, 1692, at the early age of 36, after a ministry of ten 
years. 

For four years after the death of Mr. Gookin, the church pulpit was va- 

♦Septomber 9, 1669, it was voted that the church's farm at Billerica should be 
sold "and improvement made of it for the building of a house for the 
ministry." This farm was sold November 12 of that year to Richard Daniels 
for £220. The land for the parsonage cost £40. the house £263, 5s. 6d., and the 
barn £42. The old schoolhouse on Holyoke street was taken down this year 
and It is probable that the stones of which it was built were used as founda- 
tions for the new parsonage. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 19 

cant, being supplied by as many as thirty different preachers. At last the 
Kev. William Brattle was called to be pastor and was installed, November 
25, 1696. His pastorate lasted twenty years. The "Boston News Letter" of 
February 25, 1717, speaking of his death which occurred ten days earlier, 
says that "his good name while he lived was better than precious ointment, 
and his memory, now being that of the just, will be always blessed. He was 
a very religious good man, a faithful minister, a great benefactor. Like 
his great Lord and Master, he went about doing good." The same issue of 
the "News Letter" speaks of a remarkably heavy snow storm which occurred 
on the day of his funeral, blocking travel between Cambridge and Boston 
and "lying in some parts of the streets about six foot high." Rev. John Cot- 
ton, of Newton, who was present at the funeral, writes to his father that he 
was detained several days "by reason of the great and very deep snow," 

Mr. Brattle belonged to the family whose name has so long been asso- 
ciated with Cambridge. Though he resided in the parsonage, he bought the 
land upon which stands the historic Brattle House, where his son and grand- 
son, prominent at the opening of the Revolution, resided. He was one of 
the first two to receive the degree of Bachelor of Divinity from Harvard 
College. 

After his death, the church immediately took steps to secure a successor, 
and, after mature deliberations, church and town concurring, the Rev. Na- 
thaniel Appleton was invited to be their minister. 

He accepted the call and was installed October 9, 1717. Mr. Appleton be- 
longed to a distinguished family. His mother was daughter of President 
John Rogers, who served the college, 16S2-84. His pastorate was the longest 
the church has ever known, extending over sixty-six years. It covered the 
eventful period of the Revolution — the times that tried men's souls, and 
awakened every spark of patriotism in the American people. During his res- 
idence in the parsonage a sum of money was appropriated by the town for re- 
pairing the ravages of fifty years, and a new front was built and the house 
otherwise renovated in 1720. Harvard College conferred the degree of Doctor 
of Divinity upon Mr. Appleton in 1771, the first time that honor was 
accorded to anyone since 1692, when Rev. Increase Mather was elected a 
D. D. 

The record reads: "The Rev. Mr. Nathaniel Appleton having been long an 
ornament to the pastoral character and eminently distinguished for his 
knowledge, wisdom and sanctity of manners and usefulness to the churches, 
and having for more than fifty years exerted himself in promoting the 
interests of piety and learning in this society, both as a minister and a fel- 
low of the corporation, therefore voted that the degree of Doctor in Divinity 
be conferred on the said Rev. JNIr. Nathaniel Appleton, and that a diploma 
for that purpose be presented to him." 



20 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

A colleague, in the person of Rev. Timothy Hilliard, was provided Rev. Dr. 
Appleton, at his own request, after he entered his ninety-first year, and he 
was installed, October 27, 1783. Dr. Appleton lived less than four months af- 
ter this event, and departed this life old and full of days, February 9, 1784. 

The longest pastorate was followed by the shortest, that of Mr. Hilliard, 
which was of only seven years duration. Though short, it was one of pe- 
culiar fruitfulness, his talents being such as to fit him most happily for 
the high position he was called to fill. He died May 9, 1790. 

The last parson to make his home in the old parsonage was Rev. Abiel 
Holmes. He was born in 1763, at Woodstock, now Connecticut, but at that 
time within the limits of Massachusetts, graduated at Yale College in 1783, 
was ordained pastor of a church at Midway, Georgia, in 1785, but returned 
in a few years to the North, finding the Southern climate unfavorable to his 
health. The Cambridge church, not having filled the vacancy caused by the 
death of Mr. Hilliard, extended to him a call, which he accepted, and was 
ordained, January 25, 1792. 

His term of service was a long and eventful one, but it is only with the first 
fifteen years that the old parsonage has to do. Mr. Holmes married, for his 
second wife, Sarah, daughter of Oliver Wendell, who presented to her as a 
wedding gift the historic mansion, owned and occupied by Jonathan Hast- 
ings, steward of Harvard College, 1742-1783, and which served as headquar- 
ters for General Ward at the opening of the Revolution. Into this house he 
removed with his family in 1807, and here his distinguished son was born in 
1809. 

Thus the record of the old parsonage closes. Having nobly served its pur- 
pose as a dwelling place for the ministers of Cambridge for one hundred and thir- 
ty-seven years, it passed from the ownership of the church to that of the 

corporation of Harvard College, and was taken down in 1843. 

M. W. G. 

HARVARD COLLEGE YARD. 

"After God had carried us safe to New England, and wee had builded our 
houses, provided necessaries for our livelihood, rear'd convenient places for 
Gods worship, and settled the Civile Government: One of the next things we 
longed for, and looked after was to advance Learning and perpetuate it to 
posterity; dreading to leave an illiterate Ministery to the churches, when our 
present Ministers shall lie in the dust."— From "New England's First Fruits." 

1636 — When Sir Harry Vane was governor of the Province of Massachusetts 
Bay, the Great and General Court in October of this year "agreed to give £400 
towards a schoale or colledge, whereof £200 to bee paid the next yeare, and £200 
when the worke is finished, & the next Court to appoint wheare & wt building." 

1637— On October 15, 1637, the Great and General Court passed a 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 21 

vote that: "The college is ordered to bee at Newetowne." In this 
same year the name of Newetowne was changed to Cambridge, ("It is or- 
dered that Newetowne shall henceforward be called Cambrige") in honor of 
the university in Cambridge, England, where many of the early settlers were 
educated. Cotton Mather, when writing of the ministry of the beloved Mr. 
Shepard, says: "When the foundation of a college was to be laid, Cambridge 
rather than any other place was pitched upon to be the seat of that happy 
seminary: out of which there proceeded many notable preachers, who were 
made such by their sitting under Mr. Shepard's ministery." 

1638— In March of the following year (1638), the Town granted 2 2-3 acres of 
land forever, for the use of the college: this land was probably that on which 
the Hemenway Gymnasium now stands, which was later exchanged for 
land now within the College yard, near Grays Hall. Of the 

first college building little is known, but it is thought to have stood near 
the site of Grays Hall. It contained chambers, studies, a kitchen and but- 
tery, with a turret on top. "It was thought by some too gorgeous for a wilder-, 
ness, and yet too mean in others' apprehension for a college." Mr. Nathaniel 
Eaton was the first instructor of this school. The pupils boarded in his fam- 
ily, and he was more noted for parsimony and tyranny than for ability in 
teaching. 

1638— On the 26th of September, 1638, the Reverend John Harvard died. His 
will contained a bequest to the new college of one-half of his fortune (amount- 
ing to about 700 pounds) and his entire library of 260 volumes. In grateful 
recognition of this generous gift, the name of Harvard was given to this col- 
lege. John Harvard had been a student at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, 
England, from 1627 to 1635, and soon after his graduation and marriage he 
came to New England, where he settled in Charlestown. 

1640 — In 1640, Henry Dunster was chosen president of Harvard College and 
enjoys the distinction of being its first president. 

1642 — The first class of nine members was graduated in 1642. At the end of 
ten years, the college being in need of more room, the house of Edward Goffe 
was purchased, which was thereafter known as Goffe's College. 

1649 — During the early part of 1649, the town made another grant of land 
to Harvard College, consisting of one hundred acres. 

1653-4— The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel erected a small brick 
building for the education of the Indian Youth; this was called the Indian 
College; only one Indian was graduated from this college. The Indian College 
was soon given up to business, and it is probable that the 2nd edition of the 
Indian Bible was printed in this building. In 1661, the land of John Betts, 
which extended from the meeting house northward, and included the site of 
Harvard Hall, was purchased for thirty pounds, given by Mr. John Paine and 
Mr. William Paine, merchants of Boston. 



22 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

1672— HARVARD HALL: Forty-five towns of New England contributed to 
the fund necessary to build Harvard Hall, in 1672. This stood at the left of 
the entrance to the yard, and contained the library of John Harvard, with 
many other valuable books, the chapel, lecture rooms, philosophical and other 
apparatus, dormitories, a kitchen and buttery. During the epidemic of small- 
pox in Boston, in 1764, the Great and General Court adjourned to Cambridge 
and held its sessions in Harvard Hall. On the night of January 26, of this same 
year. Harvard Hall was destroyed by fire; the valuable library of John Har- 
vard with 5000 volumes, and the apparatus were lost. Harvard Hall, as it stands 
today, was rebuilt, in 1764, by the Provincial Government; it contained the same 
accommodations for tlie life of the college as the former building; from the 
buttery were sold to the students such proper necessaries as wine, liquors, 
groceries and stationery. There was at one time a clock on the building, which 
regulated the periods of the college life; the first bell in the cupola was once 
the property pf an Italian convent. .When Cambridge was occupied by the 
Provincial Army, in 1775, Harvard Hall was used for barracks; about 1000 
pounds of lead were taken from the roof and moulded into bullets. The library 
was removed to Andover in June, 1775, to Concord the following November, 
and finally returned to Harvard Hall in May, 1778. Washington was received 
here in 1798, and Munroe in 1817. It has never been used as a students' dormi- 
tory. Commencement dinners were served here from 1842 to 1871. 

1700— STOUGHTON HALL: 'The first Stoughton was built directly opposite 
the entrance, at right angles with Harvard Hall, and to tlie south of it. The 
new hall was named for Lieutenant-Governor William Stoughton, who had been 
a benefactor of the college. As chief justice of the Massachusetts Bay Col- 
ony, he had presided at Witchcraft trials. It was occupied by the Amer- 
ican soldiers during the Revolution. Stoughton was abandoned in 
1780 and torn down. In 1884, a new hall was built at the north of Hollis, three- 
fourths of the amount of money needed being raised by a lottery, which 
was sanctioned by the state. For a few years, it was called the New Hall, but 
for nearly a hundred years it has borne the name of Stoughton. Here, for many 
years, was held an auction for the sale of text books, the proceeds of the sale 
being devoted to the needs of worthy students. For many years, the Hasty 
Pudding Club had reading rooms in Stoughton, and held their meetings here. 
Among the celebrated men who have roomed here are Charles Sumner, Rufus 
Choate, Edward Everett, William Everett, Edward Everett Hale, George Ban- 
croft, Prescott, the historian, Oliver Wendell Holmes, President Felton and 
President Eliot. On the hearth of one fire-place are carved the initials P. B., 
which indicate that Phillips Brooks roomed there. 

1718— MASSACHUSETTS HALL: The Great and General Court granted 3,500 
pounds to build another college, as each building was called. This was named 
in honor of the province, and. In 1720, Massachusetts Hall was completed. It 
is the oldest building now standing iu the college yard, and is at the right 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 23 

of the main entrance. The outside has never been changed. It was used for 
a dormitory until 1820, when partitions were taken down and recitation and 
society rooms were arranged; later more changes were made so that, since 
1870, it has been entirely used for recitation and lecture rooms. In Massachu- 
setts Hall are assembled on each Commencement Day the president and offi- 
cers of the university, who await the governor of the commonwealth and the 
invited guests. From here the celebrities are escorted to the place assigned for 
the exercises of the day. At one time, there was a clock on this hall. Many 
of the patriots bad roomed here while at college, as well as many of the 
tories. Among the men of the present time who have had rooms in Massa- 
chusetts Hall may be mentioned James Freeman Clarke, Robert G. Shaw, 
George Frisbie Hoar, and Jared Sparks. 

1726— WADSWORiTH HOUSE, OR PRESIDENT'S HOUSE: The location of 
the first President's House was on or near the site of Mas- 
sachusetts Hall, and was built by President Dunster. Pres- 
ident Wadsworth wrote as follows, regarding the new house for the president: 
"The President's House, to dwell in, was raised May 24, 1726. No life was lost, 
nor person hurt in raising it; thanks be to God for his preserving goodness. 
In the evening, those who raised j'e House, had a supper in ye Hall (Harvard), 
after which we sang ye first stave or staff of ye 127 Psalm." Here lived the 
presidents of the unniversity for more than 100 years. Edward Everett was the 
last president who occupied it. From this house went President Langdon to 
the American Army assembled on the common, to offer prayer to Almighty 
God that the cause of liberty and right might prosper. When Washington 
came to Cambridge, to take command of the army, he was quartered at the 
President's House until more commodious quarters could be made ready for 
him. During the siege of Boston, this house was used for the commissary de- 
partment. It is related that, during the siege of Boston, a shell from a 
British gun landed near this house with the fuse still burning and that the 
soldier who stamped it out was long regarded as a hero. Following is a list 
of presidents who have lived here: Benjamin Wadsworth, -1736; Edward Holy- 
oke, 1737-1769; Samuel Locke, 1770-1773; Samuel Langdon, 1774-1780; Joseph Wil- 
lard, 1781-1804; Samuel Webber, 1806-1810; John Thornton Kirkland, 1810-1828; 
Josiah Quincy, 1829-1845; Edward Everett, 3846-1849. 

1736— HOLDEN CHAPEL, or LADY HOLDEN'S CHAPEL: This chapel 
was the gift of the widow and daughters of Samuel Holden, Esq., of Eng- 
land. He had been a benefactor of the college, a member of parliament and 
governor of the Bank of England. On the west front are the Holden arms. 
Previous to the building of this chapel, the religious services were held in 
Harvard Hall. The building is now used for various purposes. Holden 
Chapel is north of Harvard Hall and nearly on the same line. 

1756— HOLLIS HALL: The Province of Massachusetts Bay granted 3000 
pounds towards the building of another hall; this was named for Mr. Thomas 
Hollis, an English merchant and the most generous benefactor of the college 



M HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

of the eighteenth century. It was occupied by the American army during the 
Revolution. HoUis Hall is north of and at the rear of Harvard Hall. 

1764— HARVARD HALL: Rebuilt. 

1780— STOUGHTON HALL.: Torn down. 

1804— STOUGHTON HALL: Rebuilt north of HolliS. 

1812— HOLWORTHY HALL: Sir Matthew Hoi worthy, a wealthy English- 
man, left Harvard College 1000 pounds. When a new hall was built, it was 
named for this benefactor. The remainder of the money required to complete 
Holworthy was raised by a lottery, with the consent of the government. This 
was the last hall to take its name from an English benefactor. Holworthy 
is the favorite residence of the seniors, and the class numerals are displayed 
on its front the evening of each Class Day. Room 12 was visited by the 
Prince of Wales, when on his visit to the United States, in 1860, and by the 
Grand Duke Alexis, in 1871. Its rooms have been the home of more noted 
men than any of the other halls. It faces south and is at right angles to 
Stoughton Hall. 

1815— UNIVERSITY HALL. Charles Bulflnch was the architect of Uni- 
versity Hall. Soon after its completion a portico was added to the front, which 
extended the entire length, but this was removed in 1842. This hall has always 
been the centre of the administrative life of the university. The religious life 
of the college was also located here, at one time, for it contained a chapel, 
where were held the daily prayers and Sunday services until 1859, when Apple- 
ton Chapel was opened. The meetings of the faculty of arts and sciences are 
now held in this chapel, which was remodeled for that purpose. Exhi- 
tions were held in this hall until 1867, and, for many years, the first floor was 
used for commons, or dining hall for the students, and, on Commencement 
Day, for the alumni dinner, the basement being used as a kitchen. Presidents 
Munroe, Jackson and Van Buren, and LaFayette are among the many distin- 
guished men who have been received here. At the northerly end of this hall, 
there once stood a small house, where the liquids for the students' use were 
brewed. This was known as the Brew House. The wood yard was near by, so 
that when the students took their jugs to the Brew House, for their ale, they 
brought in their wood at the same time. 

In front of University Hall was placed, in 1905, by the Harvard Memorial 
Society, a large slab of granolithic, containing, in bronze, a plan of the build- 
ings in the college yard. A tablet on one side reads, "The dates of the build- 
ings are the dates of the first occupation. The boundaries of the older lots are 
in many cases uncertain." Visitors will find this plan very useful in locating 
the various buildings. 

1832— DANA-PEABODY HOUSE: The house at the southeasterly corner 
of the yard, on Quincy street, was probably built by Dr. Thomas Foster, 
H. C. 1805, son of Bossinger Foster, who bought the land of Rev. Edmund 
Dana, of Wroxton, England, in 1816. This estate was part of the garden of 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 25 

Edward Goffe, who came to Cambridge in 1625. He had 32 acres, bounded west 
by the parsonage, north by the Danforth estate, east by land of Joseph Cooke, 
near Ellery street, south by the old road to the Neck. The great-grand-daugh- 
ter of this Edward Goffe married Thomas Trowbridge, and was the mother of 
Judge Edmund Trowbridge, attorney-general, and of Lydla Trowbridge, the 
wife of Richard Dana, Esq., and mother of Chief Justice Francis Dana. The 
poet, Richard H. Dana, with his three unmarried sisters and his children, lived 
here from 1822 till 1832. The two younger sisters had been engaged to Dr. 
Foster's two brothers who died, in Cambridge, within a week of each 
other, in 1817. The eldest of the sisters, Miss Martha Remington Dana, mar- 
rier Washington Allston,* in this house, in 1830. Dr. Thomas Foster died in 
1831, and his brother Andrew's widow and children sold the estate to Harvard 
College, in 1835, including the land where the President's House now stands. 
From 1832, it has been devoted to the use of the college. A revolving dome was 
added, in 1839, for the use of the department of astronomy. President Felton 
occupied this house during his term of office. It was long the residence of Dr. 
Andrew P. Peabody, the noted "Plummer Professor of Christian Morals." Of 
late years, it has been the home of Professor Palmer. 

1832— DANE HALL: Dane Hall was the gift of Nathan Dane, of Beverley. 
Mass. For fifty years, it was the law school of the university, but, since 
Austin Hall M'as built, where now the law studies are pursued, Dane Hall 
has been used for various purposes of the college. It was moved a short dis- 
tance to the south, when Matthews was built, was enlarged in 1845 and 
again in 1891. 

1838— GORE HALL: Gore Hall contains the library of Harvard University. 
It was built from the fund bequeathed by Christopher Gore, who died in 1829. 
Richard Bond was the architect. It was enlarged in 1887 and remodeled in 
1897. Besides the library of nearly three-quarters of a million volumes, there 
are many rare and valuable relics of historic interest within its walls. It was 
built in the north end of the land known as the Fellows' Orchard. This was a 
garden bequeathed by Matthew Daye, son of Stephen, the printer, who was 
steward of Harva.rd College, and who died in 1649. In his will, he gives three- 
quarters of this land with these words: "I doe give with all my heart that 
part I have in the Garden unto the Fellows of Harvard College forever." The 
fourth part was given, in 1645, by Mr. John Buckley, first master of arts in 
Harvard College, "for the use of the Fellows that should from time to time 
belong to and be resident at the said society." It was just west of the par- 
sonage land. 

1857— BOYLSTON HALL: Boylston Hall was built from a bequest of Ward 
Nicholas Boylston, and a sum of money raised by subscription. It is used 
by the department of chemistry and was enlarged in the years 1875, 1891 and 

♦Washington AUston's studio stood until 1867 on corner of Auburn and 
Pleasant streets. It was then removed to Valentine street where it still stands. 



26 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAIMBRIDGE 

1895. There are three interesting tablets on the wall which faces Massachusetts 

Avenue, viz.: 

Here was the homestead of 

Thomas Hooker 1633-36 

First Pastor of Newtow^n 

Thomas Shepard 1636-49 1 John Leverett 1696-1724 

Jonathan Mitchell 1650-68 1 Tresldent of Harvard College 

First and second ministers | Edward Wigglesworth 1726-68 

Of the First Church of Cambridge First Hollis Professor of Divinity 

and 

Edward Wigglesworth 

Second Hollis Professor of Divinity 

SEWALL HOUSE (A33): Between the house of Professor Wigglesworth and 
the parsonage stood the house of Professor Stephen Sewall, who succeeded 
Judah Monis as professor of Hebrew. He married Rebecca, daughter of the first 
Professor Wigglesworth, August 9, 1763, and, two j^ears later, bought of his 
father-in-law the easterly end of his lot, and built the house where he lived 
until his death, in 1804. The following year this house and the land, a little 
less than an acre, became the property of the college. 

1858— APPLETON CHAPEL: The second building to be devoted to religious 
worship was the gift of Samuel Appleton, of Boston. The improvements were 
added by his children. Here are held the daily prayers, at 8.45, the vesper 
services, on Thursday afternoons, and the services on Sunday evenings. At- 
tendance at the daily morning prayers was compulsory until 1886, when, by 
vote of the faculty, the attendance was to be voluntary. The services are 
conducted by celebrated preachers of diverse denominations from all parts of 
the United States. 

1861— PRESIDENT'S HOUSE: The President's House faces Quincy street. 
It was the gift of Mr. Peter C. Brooks, of Boston, who, in 1846, gave ten 
thousand dollars for electing a house for the president. President Hill was 
the first to occupy it, from 1862 to 1868. It has been the residence of Mr. 
Charles W. Eliot since 1869. He has held the office of president five years 
longer than Edward Holyoke, who was president 32 years. No president has 
exceeded this long term. 

1863— GRATS HALL: Grays Hall was built by the college, in honor of three 
generous benefactors of the university, Francis Calley Gray, who graduated in 
1809, John Chipman Gray, H. C. 1811, William Gray, H. C. 1829. 

1869-70— THAYER HALL: Thayer Hall was built by Nathaniel Thayer, of 
Boston, in memory of his father, Nathaniel Thayer, H. C. 1789, and of his 
brother, John Eliot Thayer, who founded the Thayer scholarship. 

1871-2— WELD HALL: Weld Hall was the gift of William Fletcher Weld, 
In memory of his brother, Stephen Minot Weld, H. C. 1826. 

1872— MATTHEWS HALL: Matthews Hall was the gift of Nathan Mat- 
thews, of Boston. One-half of the income from the rooms Is used to assist de- 
serving students. There are fifteen scholarships paid from this fund. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 2T 

18S2— SEVER HALL: Sever Hall was built from the bequest of Mrs. Ann 
P. Sever, widow of Colonel James Warren Sever, H. C. 1817. H. H. Richardson 
was the architect. It contains only lecture and recitation halls. 

1890— JOHNSTON GATE: This is the main entrance gate of the college 
yard and is between Massachusetts and Harvard Halls. It was the gift of 
Samuel Johnston, of Chicago. 

1891— MEYER GATE: The Meyer Gate is nearly opposite the statue of John 
Harvard, in the Memorial Hall triangle. It was built by George von L. Meyer, 
of Boston. 

1895— WILLIAM HATES FOGG ART MUSEUM: The Fogg Art Museum 
was built by Mrs. Elizabeth Fogg, of New York, in memoi-y of her husband. 
It contains various rooms for the exhibition of works of art, besides a lecture 
hall. 

1898— PHILLIPS BROOKS HOUSE: Tliis memorial to Phillips Brooks is the 
centre of all the religious and philanthropic work of the university. It was 
built by the contributions of men and women who respected and loved the 
great preacher, and cost fifty thousand dollars. 

1902— NELSON ROBINSON, JR., HALL: The building at the corner of 
Quincy street and Broadway was the gift of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Robinson, 
of New York, for a memorial to their son, Nelson Robinson, Jr., a member 
of the class of 1900, whoi died before graduation. It is devoted to the use 
of the department of architecture. 

1905— EMERSON HALL: Emerson Hall, the last to be erected, is named 
for Ralph Waldo Emerson, and is devoted to the use of the department of 
philosophy. The money for its erection was raised by public subscriptions. 

1760— CLASS TREE: The board of overseers passed a vote that the stu- 
dents be allowed to meet by the Tree, on Class Day, and be allowed to drink 
punch, in a sober manner. The punch was served in buckets. The festivities 
around the tree were abandoned in 1898. This famous tree is in the quadrangle 
formed by Harvard, Hollis and Holden Chapel. 

1806— WOOD YARD. The college wood-yard was at the present site of Uni- 
versity Hall. 

REBELLION TREE: Another tree of note is the one which stood at the east 
front of Hollis Hall. Under its branches the dissatisfied students would gather 
to express their disapproval of any measures of the faculty which failed to 
meet with their approbation; hence, its name of Rebellion Tree. 

THE PUMP: Southeast of Massachusetts Hall there stood, for many dec- 
ades the pump which supplied the water necessary for the toilet of the stu- 
dents as well as that for drinking purposes. It was the same spring at which 
Professor Wigglesworth used to water his cow, before the Revolution. A few 
years ago, some one blew up the pump, which, for some reason, has not been 
replaced. A cut of the College Pump may be found in the Harvard Illustrated 
Magazine of June 16, 1900. 



28 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

THE TABLETS: The tablets which are placed on some of the buildings are 
cast from the bell which hung in the belfry of Harvard Hall, from 1836 to 1900. 

THE FENCE: The different sections of the fence which encloses the college 
yard have been built by various classes among the alumni. The class numerals 
are wrought in some prominent portion of each section, usually in the middle. 
Entrance gates have been built at the different entrances, some as memorials 
and others by the various clubs. 

ADDENDA: Six years after the first house was built in the settlement, to 
be known in after years as Cambridge, the foundation of Harvard University 
was laid; one hundred and thirty-nine years after its foundation occurred the 
battle of Lexington, when the students were removed to Concord. The build- 
ings then standing in the yard were all used to accommodate the patriot army. 
In less than two years, the students returned to Cambridge; one hundred and 
thirty yars have passed since this short interrruption of the student life in 
the college yard; the first class graduated in 1642, and comprised nine mem- 
bers; there were graduated in the class of 1904, 454 (A. B.) 

The college yard is now bounded by Harvard street, Massachusetts avenue, 
Quincy street, Broadway, Cambridge street, Peabody street and Harvard 
square. The dates when various estates were acquired by the college is af- 
fixed, with the names of those from whom deeded: Town grant, 1638; Sweet- 
man, 1677; Betts, 1661; Meeting-house, 1833; Goffe, (?); Eaton, about 1640; 
Wigglesworth, 1794; Sewall, 1805; Fellows' Orchard, 1642; Parsonage, 1833; Fos- 
ter estate, 1835; Bigelow estate, 1835; Appleton pasture, 1786. 

PRESIDENTS OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Henry Dunster, 1640-1654; 
Charles Chauncy, 1654-1671; Leonard Hoar, 1672-1674; Urian Oakes, 1675-1681; 
John Rogers, 1682-1684; Increase Mather, 1685-1701; Samuel Willard, 1701-1707; 
John Leverett, 1707-1724; Benjamin Wadsworth, 1725-1736; Edward llolyoke, 
1737-1769; Samuel Locke, 1770-1773; Samuel Langdon, 1774-1780; Joseph Wil- 
lard, 1781-1804; Samuel Webber, 1806-1810; John Thornton Kirkland, 1810-1828; 
Josiah Quincy, 1829-1845; Edward Everett, 1846-1849; Jared Sparks, 1S49-1S53; 
James Walker, 1853-1860; Cornelius Conway Felton, 1860-1862; Tliomas Hill, 
1862-1868; Charles William Eliot, 1869. A. L. L. W. 

Harvard College Lottery. 
tflxiA ^iddd. Jt No. 

THIS TICKET ynll entitle tlie bearer to such PrflZhl, as may be 
drawn against its number ; agreeably to an act of the General Court 
of Massachusetts, passed the 14th day of Marclu 1806. < 




HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 29 

THE COURT HOUSE AND JAIL. 

The early history of the Massachusetts Bay Colony gives Cambridge a 
prominent place in administrative and judicial affairs. In 1630, the seat of 
government was established here, and the elections for governor and magis- 
trates were held annually on the common. In 1634, the General Court, a body 
which had both legislative and judicial power, and administered the whole 
affairs of the colony, transferred its sessions from Boston to Cambridge; and 
on several occasions, too, when for any reason the body chose to meet else- 
where than at Boston, it was to Cambridge that it came. The constitution 
of Massachusetts, adopted 1779, was framed at Cambridge — showing once more 
the continued importance of the town in matters of law and government. 

With the increase of population came the need for more tribunals of 
justice than had been at first arranged for, and the General Court in 
1635 ordered four separate courts to be held every quarter at Boston, Ip- 
swicht Salem and Cambridge — then called New Towne; these courts to be 
presided over by such magistrates as dwelt in or near those towns, or such 
persons as should from time to time be appointed by the General Court, 
and in 1639 several new courts were created. 

When the colony was divided into counties, in 1643, and Middlesex coun- 
ty was incorporated, Cambridge continued the shire town of the county, 
where county courts were held and records kept. In 1652, the Increase of 
business necessitated the holding of two additional courts a year for the 
county, with sessions at Charlestown. A court house and a jail were erected 
there, and the courts were held regularly for many years. At a later date, 
courts were established and buildings erected at Concord and Lowell. 

There have been a number of buildings used for the courts in Cambridge, 
all of which, with the exception of the present one, have been located in 
or near Harvard square, and used jointly by the county and town. 

FIRST COURT HOUSE, 1671, SECOND COURT HOUSE 1707-1758 (A37). 

Precisely when the first court house was built is not known. One was de- 
stroyed by fire in 1671, and there is no positive knowledge of any other 
court house until 1707, when one was erected on a spot about the middle of 
Harvard square. This structure was of wood. The records of the Court 
of Sessions, of April 23, 1707, give us some Idea of what the building must 
have been like, and what it cost. It was "agreed by the justices .... 
that there be allowed out of the county treasury, toward the erecting a 
suitable court house for the use of the county in the town of Cambridge, 
thirty pounds, the one-half therof to be paid at the raising and covering, 
and the other half at the finishing of the same; the said 
house to be not less than four and twenty foot wide and eight and 



30 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 



twenty foot long, and height proportionable." The records of the Pro- 
prietors of the Common Lands of Cambridge show that land was donated 
for the building. "We learn, furthermore, that, in consideration of a pay- 
ment of twenty pounds, two citizens of the town were given permission to 
build, at their own expense, a lower story for ofiBces for their own private 
use as long as the building should stand, provided they constructed an 
entry and stairway six feet wide leading up to the court room above. This 
structure, diminutive as it now seems, was used by the courts for about 
fifty years. 




\ 



THIRD COURT HOUSE, 1758-1816 (A37). 

In 1757-8, on the lot of land now occupied by the Lyceum Building, at 
Harvard square, a new and larger court house was built. This was the 
famous "Old Court House." It was a wooden structure, like Its predeces- 
sors, thirty feet wide by forty long, and adorned with a cupola. The build- 
ing presented a very attractive appearance. The foundation was of 
hewn stone, and the upper part of the house of ash, painted a pale yellow, 
making a pretty contrast with the big door, which was of red. There was a 
broad, slanting roof of gray, and above it the imposing cupola. Altogether, it 
was a public building of which the town might well be proud. It is In- 
teresting to note that some of the timbers used In the construction of 
this building were taken from the third meeting house, demolished in 1756. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE SI 

The old court house was the scene of many a legal battle waged by men 
who won renown in the law — Pratt, Gridley, Trowbridge — fighting it out 
on the floor, with. Justices Sewall, Hutchinson, or Lynde on the bench — 
all these in colonial times. After the Revolution, the court house saw many 
other well known men — Chief Justices Dana and Parsons, Lawyers Dexter, 
H. G. Otis and the rest. The opening of court in the old court house must 
have been an interesting sight — the judges in their "robes of scarlet Eng- 
lish cloth, their broad bands, and their immense judicial wigs," the barristers 
in "bands, gowns and tyewigs." 

Court was held in this court house until 1816, when the building 
was abandoned for county purposes. It continued to be the property of 
the town, however, and was employed for various public uses. Town meet- 
ings were held there until 1831; it was used as a place of worship by the 
Orthodox Church while their new edifice was building; and it served for 
some time as the headquarters of the "Citizens' Patrol," an organization 
formed in the early forties to guard against fires being set by incendiaries. 
In 1841, the structure was sold and removed, and since then it has been re- 
moved to the northwest corner of Brattle and Palmer streets, where it still 
remains. In the years since 1841, the old court house has served many uses 
not contemplated when it was built. It was at first used as a billiard room 
and bowling alley; next, for a gymnasium and fencing school; and, finally, as 
an addition to a store, which is its present use. 

FIRST JAIL, 1655-1692 (A48). 

Although Cambridge had a jail almost as soon as a court house — perhaps 
sooner — the buildings were for many years entirely separate. The earliest 
record we have of any place used as a jail is in 1655. On January seventh 
of that year, the County Court of Middlesex made provision for a "House 
of Correction" by purchasing of Andrew Stevenson, of Cambridge, his dwel- 
ling house and about half a rood of land adjoining. The price paid was 
to be "sixteen pounds, in cattle, or 1811 in corn." Stevenson was ap- 
pointed keeper of the jail. At the same time, an addition twenty-six feet 
long, with proportions the same as those of the original house, was pro- 
vided for. This house stood on Holyoke street, near the corner of Mount 
Auburn, and was used as a jail until the erection of the prison, in 1692. 
The place of execution, the "Gallows Lot," was situated on Jones's Hill, 
north of Linnaean street. There, in 1755, an old negro 
woman named Phillis was burned alive for murdering her master, Captain 
Codman, of Charlestown, this being one of the last of such, atrocious pun- 
ishments in the colonies. 



S2 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

SECOND JAIL, 1C92-1816 (MS). 

The jail, erected in 1692, stood on the northerly side of Winthrop street, be- 
tween Winthrop square and Eliot street. It was built at the time of the 
witchcraft excitement in New England, and its first inmates seem to have 
been poor unfortunates charged with being witches. In 1703, an addition 
eighteen feet square was made to the prison on the west side. A dozen 
years later, the old part was so unsatisfactory that the court ordered it 
replaced by "a well-built house for a prison with accommodations for a 
keeper." The jail was to be thirty- six feet fn length, and of a width to 
conform to the foundations of the old "Gaol." It was a two-story building, 
with a stack of chimneys in the middle. 

The jail, together with the one at Concord, continued in use until 1816, 
when court buildings and jail were brought together in the new struc- 
tures at East Cambridge. 

Up to the tfme of the removal of the prison buildings to East Cam- 
bridge, the Cambridge jail had thirteen different keepers, with terms of office 
ranging from a year to thirty-three years. The following is a list, with 
terms of office, as far as they can be determined from the records: An- 
drew Stevenson, 1656-72; "William Healy, 1672-82; Daniel Cheever, 1682- 
93; Israel Cheever (son of the former), 1693-94; Timothy Phillips, 1694-1701(7); 
Samuel Gooking, 1702-29; Samuel Dummer, 1729-31; Richard Foster, 1731-64; 
David Phipps, 1764-75; James Prescott, 1775-81; Loami Baldwin, 1781-94; John 
Goodwin, 1794-98; Jacob "Watson, 1798-1813; Isaac Train, 1813-1828 (continuing 
to hold the office after the removal to East Cambridge). Paige, in History 
of Cambridge, p. 497, says that Isaac Bradish, father-in-law of John 
Goodwin, was jailor for some years before 1790. If so, he must have been 
substitute for Baldwin, as his name does not appear on the records. This 
list was carefully prepared by the late John M. Fisk. 

"We have seen that the county courts removed from. Harvard square to 
East Cambridge in 1816. This removal involves several interesting bits of 
local history. On the third of March, 1810, the General Court had incorpor- 
ated the "Lechmere Point Corporation," a financial concern which had a 
brilliant career. This corporation having completed the bridge to Boston, 
and desiring to promote its interests and attract settlers to this part of 
the town, on the first of November, 1813, offered to convey to the county 
a square bounded by Otis, Second, Thorndike, and Third streets, together 
with a lot seventy-five feet in width across the westerly side of the square, 
and expend the sum of $24,000 to erect a court house and jail. The Court 
of Sessions, at its December term, formally accepted the offer, and when, 
at the March term of 1816, a committee reported the building finished, the 
removal was ordered at once from Harvard square to the location above 
Indicated. This was the beginning of the courts at East Cambridge. In 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 33 

1848, wings were added to the new court building, and again, in 1877, ex- 
tensive additions were made; and, in 1896, the legislature ordered the con- 
struction of the commodious and imposing edifice which is now the home 
of the Courts of Probate and Insolvency; the Registry of Probate, Insol- 
vency, and of Deeds. These noble monuments to law and order have a 
further claim upon our regard than their mere judicial significence, how- 
ever great that may be; they stand on historic ground. It was here that 
the British landed on the night before the battle of Lexington, and covering 
the summit of the hill was Fort Putnam. Surely, nothing could be more 
fitting than that right and justice should be administered where they were 
first fought for and won— on the early battlefields of the Revolution. 

G. J. W. 

BOTLSTON STREET. 
Boylston street was called, until the end of the eighteenth century. Wood 
street, and is often mentioned in deeds, "as the road that leadeth from the 
Market Place to the Great Bridge." It was also called the "Causeway," and 
for many years during the nineteenth century bore the name of Brighton 
street. After the building of the Great Bridge, in 1662, it became the prin- 
cipal entrance to the town. At first there were but few land-owners on this 
street, and each house was surrounded by a garden, but later shops were 
built on the unoccupied land, and especially on the east side there were many 
owners. 

BRADSTREET-PELHAM HOUSE— FARWELL'S CORNER. (A38.) 

Cambridge can claim Simon and Anne Bradstreet among its people for a 
short time only. They were in Governor Winthrop's company, which settled 
Newtowne in 1630. They built their first New England home on the southerly 
side of Harvard square, at the corner of what is now Boylston street. Tlaey 
also owned an acre and a half of land on the westerly side of the sqifare, 
where the court house afterwards stood. 

In 1635, they joined a party, which a few years previously had gone from 
Newetowne and founded Ipswich. In 1644, they moved to Andovcr and built 
a house. This, with its contents, including family portraits, heirlooms and a 
library of eight hundred books, was destroyed by fire on July 10, 1666. It was 
rebuilt practically on the same lines and was standing in 1905. 

Simon Bradstreet was born in Hoebling, England, in 1603, the son of a min- 
ister, who was one of the first fellows of Emmanuel College, and grandson of a 
SuiTolk gentleman of fine estate. Simon received his education in the gram- 
mar schools, followed by one year at Emmanuel College. 

When fifteen years of age, he was taken into the household of the Earl of 
Lincoln and trained to the duties of Steward by Thomas Dudley, who later 
became Governor Dudley. 



34. HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

When twenty-five years of age, he married Anne (aged sixteen), eldest 
daughter of Thomas and D«rothy (Yorke) Dudley, with whom, a year later, he 
sailed for New England in the ship "Arbella," accompanied by the ships 
"Talbot," "Ambrose" and "Jewell." The voyage was an eventful one. They 
•were delayed for a week by contrary winds. After these had subsided, the 
party sighted what they took to be an hostile fleet bearing down upon them 
and prepared for battle, at which time they threw away many household ef- 
fects, including bedding prepared for their new homes in the wildei-ness. The 
ships proved to be friendly ones, and, after exchanging salutes, the fleet 
which carried Winthrop's pai'ty continued its journey westward. 

Anne Bradstreet, born in 1612, in Northamptonshire, probably near Canon's 
Ashby, was a gentle, retiring woman, sympathetic and tactful, the mother 
of eight children, four sons and four daughters. 

She was the first American poetess, the only woman to achieve literary 
distinction in the early colonial times. The first ten years in the new country 
were the most fruitful ones in a literary sense. Her first poem, bearing date 
of 1632, is on a short fit of sickness. "In Cambridge the muse of poetry first 
inspired her." In 1642, when living in Ipswich, she dedicated her first volume 
of poetry entitled "The Tenth Muse, Lately Sprung Up in America," to her 
father, Thomas Dudley. It was not published until 1650. Several editions 
have followed. 

As a specimen of Anne Bradstreet's poetry, we give the following, which is 
as good a description of the ideal woman of the twentieth century as it was 
of the seventeenth: 

AN EPITAPH. 

On my dear and ever honoured Mother, 
Mistress Dorothy [Yorke] Dudley, 
Who dyed December 27, 1643, Aged 61. 
Here lyes: 
A worthy Matron of unspotted life, 
A loving Mother and obedient wife, 
A friendly neighbor pitiful to poor, 
Whom oft she fed and clothed with her store, 
To servants wisely awefnl, but yet kind. 
And as they did so they reward did find; 
A true instructor of her family, 
The which she ordered with dexterity. 
The publick meetings she did oft frequent, 
And in her Closet constant hours she spent; 
Religious in all her words and waycs 
Preparing still for death till end of dayes; 
Of all her Children, Children lived to see, 
Then dying left a blessed memory. 

ANNE (DUDLEY) BRADSTREET. 

Though it was only as a poetess that Anne Bradstreet was known in her 
time, her real strength lay in prose, as shown by her "Meditations, Divine and 
Morall," written at the request of her second son. Rev. Simon Bradstreet, and 
dated March 20, 1664. Most of her life an invalid, she seemed to seek relief 
from suffering in her literary work, a great part of which consists of versiflca- 



MAP A. 

1. Governor Dudley-Harlakenden-Pelham. 

2. Allen-Chesholme-First Tavern-Isaac Daye-Fessenden-Tyng. 

3. Cutter-Benoni Eaton-Bunker-Moore. 

4. First Meeting House. 

5. Hopkins-Edmund Angier-Stedman. 

6. Austin-Blodgett-Frost-Haddon-Kenipster-Holden-Post. 

7. Stanley-Cliampney-Frencb-Barrett-Morse. 

8. Stebbins-Collins-AIdus-Steplien Daye-Willard's Hotel. 

9. George Steele-Goffe-Bordman. 

10. Hancock-Danforth-Hicks. 

11. Cane-Towue-Bainbridge-Haneock. 

12. Heate-Marrett-Stone-Samuel Andrew-Captain Edward Marrett-Southera 

Club. 

13. Samuel Dudley-Saunders-Shop of Edmund Angier-Whittemore. 

14. Master Elijah Corlett-Hepzibah Champney-Ammi Ruhamah Cutter-Trow- 

bridge. 

15. Andrew-Usher. 

16. Simon Willard-Mitchelson-Green-Ccolidge-Hicks. 

17. Bridge. 

18. Benjamin-Payne-Manning-Remington. 

19. Benjamin Betts-Elder .Tonas Clarke-.James Clark-Osgood and Farrington. 

20. Fisher-Edward Shepard-Warland-Gookin-Hill. 

21. Westwood-Betts-John Shepard. 

22. Lewis-William Cutter-Bridge. 

23. Stocking-Manning-Goddard-Gove-Batson. 

24. Abbott-Moore-Sa wtell-Hovey. 

25. Green-Judge Edmund Trowbridge. 

26. Widow Muzzey-IiUxford-Widow Glover-Dunster-First, second, third school- 

house. 

27. WadswoTth-Richard Champney. 

28. John Steele-Bradish-Goffe. 
28a. Goodwin-Samuel Shepard. 

29. Redding-Hart-Richards-Joseph Cooke-Bradish-President Holyoke-Pearson. 
29a. White-Collins. 

30. Aptliorp (Bishop's Palace)-Borland-QuarTers of Putnam and Burgoyne. 

31. Daniel Gookin-Oliver-Phips-Winthrop-McKay. 

32. Old Parsonage. 

33. Sewall. 

34. Hooker-Thomas Shepard-Mitchell-Leverett-Wigglesworth. 

35. President's or Wadsworth House. 

36. Second, Third and Fourth Meeting-houses. 

37. Court House. 

38. Bradstreet-Pelham. 

39. Rev. Samuel Stone-Nathaniel Sparhawk-Gove-Bunker. 

40. Thomas Beale-Andrew Belcher-Blue Anchor Tavern-Birthplace of Governor 

Jonathan Belcher. 

41. Ensign-Hlcks-Samuel Whittcmore-Watson. 

42. Patrick-Cane-Prof. Judah Monies-Revolutionary Hospital-Mason. 

43. Lord-Pelham. 

44. George Cooke. 

45. Gearner-Sherborne-Towne-John Bradish. 

46. Arnold-Hnsmer. 

47. Kelsey-Sill. 

48. Jail. 

49. Hnnt-Rovolutionai*y Hospital. 

50. ITaynes-Vane-Glover-Kneeland. 

51. Wiilinm Sponcer-John Stedman. 

52. Pratt-Tsaac. 

53. Greenhill-Prnf. .John and Hannah Winthrop-Thatcher. 
54 Blue Anchor Tavorn-Brndish's-Porter's. 

55. Morrill-Skidmore-Stacey-Bean-Warland. 
68. Brattle Estate, 



Bra.iUe ** 




C0LLE(rE 

Yard 



Qo/fe, Estate, 



j)otteoC Unas mdieaie. moeUrn streetr. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 35 

tions on ancient history, in which she was well informed. When her house in 
Andover was burned, including tlie unfinislied manuscript of her longest poem, 
"The Four Monarchies," she seemed discouraged and the work was never 
completed. 

Mrs. Bradstreet died of consumption in Andover, on September 16, 1672. It 
is not known whether she was buried in Andover or in her father's tomb in 
Roxbury. Four years after her death, Simon Bradstreet, at the age of sev- 
enty-three, married Mrs. Anne (Downing) Gardner. There were no children 
by this marriage. They lived in Boston at one time, but in 1695 removed to 
Salem, where he suddenly died on March 27, 1697, aged ninety-four years, 
and was buried in the Charter Street Burying Ground. 

Simon Bradstreet lived in America sixty-four years and was the last sur- 
vivor of the company who came over with Winthrop. Nearly all of his life in 
New England, he occupied prominent positions in the government, holding 
office as governor's assistant, colonial secretary, deputy governor, governor, 
royal councillor, and president, beside being sent as special Commissioner to 
England upon matters pertaining to the colony, its charter, Quaker troubles, 
etc. 

Naturally, he had part also in settling the Indian troubles of that period. 
The witchcraft delusion and the introduction of slavery into the colony were 
also incident to his time. Among the descendants of Simon and Anne Brad- 
street are the Dana, Holmes, Phillips, Channing, and Buckminster families. 

M. B. F. 

This estate was bought by Herbert Pelham when he first came to Cambridge, 
later it belonged to Aaron Bordman, and has passed through many hands. In 
the nineteenth century Deacon Levi Farwell had his country shop where the 
house stood, and it was known as Farwell's corner. 

STONE-SPARHAWK-GOVE-BUNKER HOUSE. (A39.) 

The next house on the east side of Boylston street was built by the Rev. 
Samuel Stone, who came over with Rev. Thomas Hooker, and settled here in 
1633. He was born in Hartford, England, and educated at Emmanuel College, 
Cambridge. "After solemn fasting and prayer," he was appointed "teacher" 
to the First Church in this town and remained here until 1636, when he went 
with the Hooker colony to found Hartford, Connecticut. He is called "the 
pious, learned, and witty Mr. Stone," and we can well imagine that he was 
welcome to Newtowne. In 1637, he "was Chaplain," Hinman says, "to the 
little army of ninety brave men under Major Mason, * * * who by their 
valorous deeds exterminated the Pequot Nation of Indians." His first wife, 
who lived here with him, died in 1640, and he married again. He died at Hart- 
ford, on July 20, 1663. 

The house was bought by Nathaniel Sparhawk, who came here, with his 



36 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

■wife, Mary and son Nathaniel, in 1636. He was deacon of the church, and dealt 
largely in real estate, owning at one time five houses, and at his death, in 1647, 
a thousand acres of land situated on both sides of the river. He was "per- 
mitted to draw wine and strong water for Cambridge in 1639." His first wife 
died, and before 1645, he married Katharine— and died in June, 1647. She sur- 
vived him but a week. His daughter Anne married, first. Deacon John Cooper 
and second, James Convers, Sen., of Woburn. Another daughter, Esther, mar- 
ried Samuel Adams, of Chelmsford. His son Nathaniel, the only one who sur- 
vived him, married Patience Newman, daughter of Rev. Samuel Newman, 
of Rehoboth. Their daughter Sybil was mother of the first Professor Wig- 
glesworth, another grandson was Nathaniel Sparhawk (son of Rev. John 
of Bristol, R. I.), who married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Pep- 
perell, and lived at Kittery. The second son of this marriage, William, took 
the name of Pepperell, graduated at Harvard in 1766, was Mandamus Coun- 
cillor and fied to England, where he died in 1816. 

Nathaniel Sparhawk, Jr., son of the settler, lived on the south side of the 
river, and the homestead passed into the hands of John Bunker, saddler, 
who married Rebecca, the daughter of Benoni Eaton, who bought it of S. 
French in 1709. His shop was where the court house was built in 1708, when 
he and Andrew Bordman were given the right to finish and use the lower 
story for shops. John Bunker died in 1712, and part of the land went to his 
nephew, Joseph Sprague. Later, there were small shops here. 

THE BLUE ANCHOR TAVERN (A40)— BRADISH'S. (A54.) 

The most famous public house in Cambridge was the Blue Anchor Tavern, 
Bradish's, or Porter's, by all of which names the public house that stood 
on the corner of Boylston and Mount Auburn streets, was called. In early 
times, many laws were passed regulating the sale of intoxicating liquors; and. 
In 1656, the general court made towns liable to a fine if they had no "ordi- 
nary" within their borders. Great inducements were offered to persons who 
agrreed to keep a house of entertainment. Sometimes land was granted to 
them, or pasturage for their cattle, or they were exempted from church rates 
and school taxes. No one was permitted to keep a common victualling house 
without a license, under penalty of twenty shillings a week. Later, the power 
of granting licenses was transferred to the county courts. 

The early taverns were not opened wholly for the convenience of trav- 
elers. They were for the comfort of the townspeople, for the interchange of 
news and opinions, the sale of solacing drinks and sociability. In fact, 
they served the place of modem clubs and newspapers, both. On December 
27, 1652, a license was granted to Andrew Belcher to sell beer and bread for 
the entertainment of strangers and the good of the town. The first tavern 
had been that of Thomas Chesholmc, on Dnnster street, see page 50. 
He became steward of Harvard College and perhaps did not keep the public 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 37 

house longer, or it may have been that there was need of more than one 
bouse in the growing town. A license was granted to Mr. Nicholas Dan- 
forth, selectman, in 1638. He lived on Bow street, but died the next year, 
and the license went to Nathaniel Sparhawk, who lived in the house of the 
Rev. Samuel Stone, on the east side of Boylston street. He was deacon of 
the church and an extensive land owner and had been dead five years when 
Andrew Belcher obtained the license. Belcher had married Elizabeth, daug-h- 
ter of the Nicholas Danforth, who was licensed in 1638. In 1654, the county 
court granted Belcher a license to keep a house of public entertainment and 
probably soon after the sign of the Blue Anchor was hung out in front of 
his house. We do not know where it stood. Andrew Belcher was a trust- 
worthy man and well connected by marriage. His son, Andrew, Jr., was a 
member of the council and his grandson, Jonathan, was governor of 
Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and later of New Jersey. 

Thomas Bcale owned half of the estate on the northeast corner of Boyl- 
ston and Mount Auburn streets, in 1635, and in 1650 purchased the other 
half. He died in 1661 and in October, 1671, his widow Sarah sold the estate to 
Andrew Belcher, and the sign of the Blue Anchor was hung out there. Mr. 
Belcher, the father, probably died in 1673, for the license was made out in 
his wife's name the following year, and 1682, it was given to Andrew Belcher, 
Jr., whose famous son, Jonathan, was born here. 

The next owner was Captain Belcher's brother-in-law, Jonathan Reming- 
ton, who was host from 1682 until 1705, when he sold out to Joseph Hovey, who 
did not keep the tavern very long, for in 1709 he sold to his brother, John 
Hovey, and Abiel, his wife. John died in 1715, and his widow had the li- 
cense two years, when she married Edmund Angier, Jr., and they kept the inn 
together until his death. Then his widow tried to manage it alone. The 
second year of her widowhood she married Isaac Watson, who thus became 
host. He perished in the flames when his house on the easterly side of Mas- 
sachusetts avenue, near Dover street, was burned, in February, 1741. Abiel 
survived him, and, not discouraged by her continual loss of husbands, carried 
on the house for about four years when her son, John Hovey, took the 
tavern. 

In 1731, the general court authorized the court of sessions to grant, out of 
the usual season, to Joseph Bean, late of Boston, a license "to keep a tavern 
in Cambridge in the house of Mr. John Hovey, which he hath lately hired, 
and has for many years been used for a house of entertainment." In 1737, 
Mr. Bean bought from Mr. Nathaniel Hancock an estate on the westerly 
side of Boylston street about midway between the square and Mount Au- 
burn street, to which he transferred the sign of the Blue Anchor. There it 
hung for nearly a century, witnessing great changes. In 1749, Ebenezer 
Bradish became the owner and the tavern was generally called Bradish's. 
Here was coming' and going the night of the eighteenth of April, 1775, when 



38 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

word was passed around that the minute men had been called out. By this 
sign rode Lord Percy and his men to Lexington. Here were anxious hours 
and jovial ones, too, while the British were shut up in Boston and red 
ooats gave place to blue coats at the tables. Here was the rendezvous of 
Rufus Putnam's regiment. And to this tavern came Generals Burgoyne and 
Phillips, Lieutenant-Colonel Kingston and the chief of the convention prison- 
ers in the year of their stay in town. 

Here, too, the makers of the constitution must have dined and slept; and 
the list of all the famous men that Bradish entertained would be a long one. 
He died in 1785, and his son sold the house to Israel Porter in 1796. Under 
the new host, were discussed the embargo and the second war with Eng- 
land, and the tavern became the great resort of tlie students. Lowell, iu bis 
essay, "Cambridge Thirty Years Ago," gives a vivid picture of the old land- 
lord, and many authors have written of the famous doings there on com- 
mencement days. Mr. Porter died May 30, 1837, and with him the glory of 
the old house departed. A portion of it was standing until a few years ago. 

S. R. McK. 

ENSIGN-HICKS-SAMUEL WHITTEMORE-WATSON HOUSE. (A4L) 

James Ensign, who went to Hartford with the Hooker company, owned the 
land on the east side of Boylston street, between Mount Auburn and Win- 
throp streets, and probably built the house there, which was later bought by 
Zechariah Hicks, who married Elizabeth, daughter of John Sill, in 1652. He 
died in 1702, and the estate was divided between his two sons, both car- 
penters, Zechariah, Jr., and Joseph. They had married Ruth and Bethia, 
daughters of Marshal-General John Green, for their first wives, and for 
his second Zechariah married Seeth, widow of William Andrew, and Joseph 
married Rebecca Palfrey, daughter of John, the carpenter, who lived on the 
east side of the common. These brothers Hicks both lived to a ripe old age, 
Zechariah. who was ninety-four years old when he died, in 1752, and Joseph 
who had died at the age of eighty-flve in 1747. 

John Hicks, son of Zechariah, and father of the John Hicks who was killed 
by the British, on the 19th of April, 1775, followed the trade of his father and 
uncle. He married Rebecca Champney, daughter of the ruling elder. In 1727, 
he bought the northerly half of the estate of the heirs, but sold, in 1731, to 
his brotlier-in-law, Deacon Samuel Whittemore, and removed to Sutton. 
Deacon Samuel Whittemore bought the remainder of the homestead and 
lived here during the Revolution. He kept shop for many years in part of 
this house, and was a very prominent man in the community. He married 
Margaret Hicks, daughter of Zechariah Hicks, Jr., in 1715, and after her 
death, when his children were grown up, he married, for his second wife, 
Hannah Livermore, of Watertown. He was deacon for forty years, and owned 
much land in Cambridgeport. He died in 1784. He was a nephew of the Captain 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 39 

Samuel Whittemore, of Menotomy, who was nearly killed by the British on 
April 19, 1775. His daughter Elizabeth married Isaac Watson, Jr., in 1740, 
and, after Deacon "Wihittemore's death, their son William Watson bought 
the estate. He also owned land in Cambridgeport. His first wife was 
Susanna, daughter of Ebenezer Wyeth, and his second wife was Catherine 
Lopez. He died in 1811, but his widow lived until 1851, so through the first 
half of the nineteenth century this was known as the Watson House. 

PATRICK-CANE-MONIS HOUSE, REVOLUTIONARY HOSPITAL— 
THADDEUS MASON. (A42.) 

The lot at the southeast corner of Boylston and Winthrop streets was 
granted to Captain Daniel Patrick, who was here as early as May, 1632. Win- 
throp writes: "This Captain was entertained by us out of Holland (where 
he was a common soldier of the Prince's guard) to exercise our men. We 
made him a captain and maintained him * * * But he grew very proud 
and vicious. * * * His wife was a good Dutch woman and comely." The 
general court gave him provisions as early as September 7, 1630, with ten 
pounds of powder and lead, to make shot, and house room, besides money. 
Captain Patrick was captain of the train-band in March, 1637, but in Novem- 
ber "the Court did give way to Captain Patrick's removal to Ipswich, dis- 
charging him from any further service, and giving him a quarter's pay for a 
gratuity." He was in Watertown in 1638, but removed to Connecticut and 
was killed in a quarrel with a Dutchman about 1643. 

Joseph Cooke bought the house, but probably did not live here and it was 
soon the property of Christopher Cane, whose first home was on Dunster 
street. He lived here until his death iu 1653. His daughter, Ruth Cane, 
married, in 1670, Marmaduke Johnson, who was sent out here, in 1660, by the 
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England, to attend to the 
printing of the Indian Bible, which was completed in 1663. Mr. Johnson 
wished to marry the daughter of Ensign Green, but it was discovered that 
he had a wife in England, and he was commanded to pay a fine to Mr. Green 
for seeking to draw away the affections of his daughter, and was ordered by 
the court to depart for England in Christopher Clark's ship. But the 
corporation in England refused to permit this before his work was finished, 
and probably by that time he was able to prove the death of his English wife, 
and he remained here until 1674, when he moved to Boston, and died the 
same year. Two years later his widow died, leaving this house to her mother, 
brothers and sister, unless the son of her husband should come from England, 
in which case the house was to go to him. 

The Canes lived here until 1723, when Nathaniel Cane sold it to Professor 
Judah Monis. Professor Monis was a Jew, born in Italy, in February, 1683, 
who came to America about 1720. He publicly embraced Christianity in 1722, 
and was made teacher of Hebrew at Harvard the same year. January 13, 



40 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

1724, he married Abigail Marrett, daugliter of Edward Marrett, of Brattle 
street. In 1722, he published a book called "Truth, Whole Truth, Nothing 
But the Truth," and in 1735 a Hebrew grammar. He taught until the 
death of his wife in 1761, when he removed to Northborougli wliere he lived 
in the family of Rev. John Martyn, who had married his wife's sister. Here 
Professor Monis died on April 25, 1764, aged eighty-one, bequeathing forty-six 
pounds to be divided among seven of the neighboring ministers, and one 
hundred and twenty-six pounds, the interest of which was to be given to 
indigent widows of ministers. He had no children. 

After the battle of Bunker Hill the house was used as a hospital, and later 
it sheltered, for a short time Baron von Riedesel and his family. February 
11, 1786, Thaddeus Mason bought this house which he occupied after he 
moved from the Phips house, until his death in 1802, at the age of ninety- 
five years and four months. 

The house stood directly on the sidewalk. A few steps led to the fine 
front door on Boylston street, a Httle side door opened directly from the 
sidewalk on Winthrop street, and a large garden occupied the rest of the land. 

L.ORD-PELHAM ESTATE. (A43.) 

The lot on the corner of Marsh Lane (South street) and Wood (Boylston) 
street was granted to Richard Lord, who went to Hartford, where he was 
constable, selectman and captain of the first troop of horse ever rai.sed hi 
the colony. He removed to New London, where he died. This land was 
bought by Herbert Pelham, which extended his grounds through to Boylston 
street, as he already owned the lot on the corner of Dunster and South 
streets. 

ALLEN-COOKE HOUSE. (A44.) 

On the opposite, or west, side of Boylston street the land between Long lane 
(Winthrop street) and Marsh lane (Eliot street) was bought by Gteorge Cooke 
from Matthew Allen. Cooke probably built his house here, and lived here un- 
til his return to England. So much has been written about Colonel George 
Cooke in connection with his elder brother, Joseph Cooke, that it suf- 
fices to say here, that by his wife Alice he had four children born here; two 
daughters lived— Elizabeth, born in 1644, who married in England, Rev. John 
Quick, of London, and Mary, born in 1646, after her father left Cambridge, 
who was brought up by her uncle Joseph and President Dunster, and who 
married Samuel Annesley, Esq., of Westminster. Both these daughters were 
living in 1697, when they tried to recover some of their father's property by 
suits at law. 

GEARNER-SHERBORNE-TOWNE-JOHN BRADISH HOUSE. (A45.) 

Paige gives the first owner of the land on the southwest corner of Winthrop 
and Boylston streets, as Edmund Gearner, who removed before 1642. A small 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 41 

house, very ancient looking, stood there until quite lately. Whether it were 
the one in which Mrs. Elizabeth Sherborne, the second owner of the land, 
lived is doubtful. Mrs. Sherborne is supposed to be the woman who sheltered 
and concealed Rev. Thomas Shepard and his family in London before he 
embarked for New England. Mrs. Sherborne died in 1652, and does not seem 
to have left any family. 

The next occupant of the house was Peter Towne, son of the sexton of the 
First Church. He was born in England and had two wives, Joanna and 
Elizabeth, but no children. He was a cooper and was constable five years 
between 1688 and 1694, selectman, 1695. He died in 1705 and was an early 
abolitionist, for in his will he left the following orders, that his three negro 
slaves should become free, one as soon as he should recover from his 
sickness, one in four years and the other in seven years, each to receive 
ten pounds on the day of his freedom; a former slave received a legacy of three 
pounds. His wife was left a life interest in his property, after which it was 
to go to his cousins in Bridgewater, with the proviso that one of them, Joseph 
Howard, if he should free his slave Stephen, should have twenty pounds more 
than either of the other legatees; otherwise he was to have no part of the real 
estate. It is probable that he complied with this provision, for the heirs of 
Joseph Howard sold the estate to John Bradish in 1724. 

WINTHROP SQUARE. 

What is now Winthrop square, was alloted to Sir Richard Saltonstall when 
Newtown was laid out. When it was found that he would not return from 
England, it was assigned for a market-place for open-air traffic, and in 1834 
was named for Professor John Winthrop. 

HAYNES-VANE-GLOVER-KNEELAND HOUSE, 1635-185-. (A50.) 

Until a few years ago, the interesting house built by Governor Haynes still 
stood on its original site, facing the western side of Winthrop square. It was 
of two-and-a-half stories, most substantially built; the writer well remembers 
the immense oak beams which crossed the ceiling, the high wainscotting of the 
rooms, the good sized windows with many small panes of glass and the 
enormous chimney in the middle of the house, across which was built the 
crooked stairway with quaint spindles and banisters. A porch, similar to that 
of the Lee house, on Brattle street, led to the entry, from which doors opened 
on either side into the front rooms. Originally, there was but one large, square 
room on each side of the front door. A lean-to at the back, running the length 
of the house, gave a narrow room back of the front room 
on two stories; later, an extension was built on the south- 
em end, prolonging the front of the house, with a small door facing the 
square. In each large room on the first and second floors of the original 



42 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

house, there were two large windows on the front, and one at each end, facing 
north and south, the north one looking on Mount Auburn street. Tall lilac 
bushes grew on each side of the porch and quite filled the little front yard, for 
the house stood almost upon the road. A huge horse chestnut tree occupied 
the more spacious yard on the Mount Auburn street end. In the rear was a 
large enclosure, probably once a good garden. 

The appearance of the house, even In its last and saddest estate, was not 
wanting in dignity; and, in the early days, when it stood alone in its 
young strength and comeliness, with the fresh, virgin country about it, with 
the peaceful river in view, and the town spring but a stone's throw away, 
and all the surroundings fair, it must have seemed a fitting dwelling for its 
owner, the honored governor. 

John Haynes, governor of Massachusetts and Connecticut, was a native of 
Essex, England, and came to New England, in company with Hooker, in 1633. 
He was chosen an assistant, and, in 1635, governor of Massachusetts colony. 
The following year. Sir Harry Vane succeeded him, and Haynes removed to 
Connecticut, of which colony he was one of the principal founders; and, in 
1639, became its first governor, a position he occupied every second year, 
which was as often as the constitution allowed, until his death, in 1654. 
Governor Haynes was a man of great ability, piety and public spirit, in- 
ferior in no way to Winthrop; and his removal to Connecticut was a dis- 
tinct loss to Massachusetts Colony. He married for his second wife Mabel, 
sister of Roger Harlakenden. 

After the departure of Governor Haynes, this house was occupied by Sir 
Harry Vane, and something of the glamor of romance which always sur- 
rounds the memory of the handsome, gallant young governor— he was but 
twenty-four years of age when Massachusetts made him her first magistrate 
— lingered long about the hous9. 

And now, the page is turned and a new chapter opened, not only in the 
story of the old house, but in the history of the New England colonies. 
Hitherto, there had been no printing press in New England, nor in the then 
British colonies. Many of the ministers and principal men had become most 
anxious for the means of spreading religious knowledge and learning. The 
school at New Town had become Harvard College, but there was no means 
of publishing books, laws or official documents; a printing press was a cry- 
ing need, and this was now to be supplied. The Rev. Josse Glover was rec- 
tor of Sutton, in the Hundred of Wallington, formerly Croydon, in Surrey, 
England, when. In 1628, he lost his first wife, Sarah, mother of his three 
elder children. Her memorial tablet may still be seen in this village church. 
Mr. Glover became interested In the non-conformists and preached accept- 
ably to them in London; whether he entirely severed his connection with the 
established church or was forced to resign his rectorship is but a matter 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 43 

of conjecture. He had invested funds in New England and had "lands, 
chattels and g-oods here and an estate in Old England." The former prob- 
ably included "the windmill at Lynn and the house and garden in Boston," 
sold to Theodore Atkinson, in 1645. In 1638, he procured in England a font 
of types, a printing press, with a large stock of paper, and engaged one 
Stephen Daye, a locksmith, to work for him for three years. It is supposed 
that Mr. Glover, with his second wife (who was Elizabeth Harris), children 
and servants and the precious printing press, embarked with Daye in the 
"John of London," but, dying on the passage, never reached New England. 

Mrs. Glover settled in Cambridge in 1639, buying the house and estate of 
Governor Haynes. John Stedman, who accompanied the Glovers to New 
England and managed Mrs. Glover's commercial business for her until her 
second marriage, and was afterwards a merchant on his own account, lived 
opposite to her, on the northerly side of Mount Auburn street. Mr. Glover 
bequeathed the font of types to Harvard College and later his wife added 
ten pounds to the gift. It is cheering to know that the widow and children, 
so suddenly bereft, found so soon a pleasant and substantial dwelling in 
which to make a new home in the new country. Here they lived until Mrs. 
Glover's marriage, June 21, 1641, to Henry Dunster, the first president of 
Harvard College, the latter taking under his care the Glover children as 
well as the printing establishment, which he carried on with the advice of 
the college. 

Richard Harris, Mrs. Glover's brother, who came to New England with 
the Glovers, or soon afterwards, was associated with Dunster, as a tutor or 
master, "in the business of instruction" in Harvard College— one of its first 
tutors, between 1640 and 1644. The oldest piece of silver now in the possession 
of the college, known as "The Great Salt," was the gift of Richard Harris 
and was once the property of Elizabeth and Josse Glover, his sister and 
brother-in-law, whose initials it bears. Another member of this family, 
George Glover, a nephew of the rector, was also an early benefactor of the 
college. Elizabeth Glover survived her marriage to President Dunster but 
little more than two years, dying in August, 1643. 

The children of Rev. Josse Glover, who lived in the Haynes house, were 
five in number — Roger, Elizabeth, Sarah, John and Priscilla. Roger, the 
eldest, heir to his father's English estates, returned to England and was 
slain at the siege of Edinborough Castle; Elizabeth married Adam Winthrop, 
and Sarah, Deane Winthrop, both sons of the governor. John received the 
education of Harvard College, under the care of his step-father. President 
Dunster, and his uncle, Richard Harris, then studied medicine and surgery 
in Scotland and went to live in England. Priscilla, the youngest of the 
family, married Captain John Appleton, of Ipswich, and her grand-daughter, 
Priscilla (Capen) Thomas, married, for her second husband, Deacon Nathan 
Peabody, of Boxford. 



44 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

Dr. William Kneeland bought this house of William Winter, November 9, 
1763, and in 1769 bought, from the Proprietors, an adjoining piece of land "in 
the form of a gnomon" that "was "the prisoner's yard and for the use of the 
prison-keeper." Dr. Kneeland was son of Solomon and Lydia (Richardson) 
Kneeland, born 1732, H. C. 1751. He married Elizabeth Holyoke, daughter of 
Edward A. and grand-daughter of President Holyoke. He died November 2, 
17S8, leaving a daughter, Mary, who married Levi Hedge. The committee of 
Safety, May 15, 1775, ordered the quartermaster-general "to remove as many 
of the three companies now at Mr. Borland's, to the house of Dr. Kneeland, 
as this house can accommodate." 

Of the various owners of the Haynes house, after the Revolution, the writer 
has, at present, little accurate knowledge, but it must have long preserved 
its original dimensions and its distinction. In the fifties of the nineteenth 
century, many Cambridge children began their education within a room in 
the north end, under the care of Miss Sessions, who for some years kept a 
small private school there. At that time, though still eminently respectable, 
the building showed the shabbiness and decrepitude of neglected old age, 
and, from year to year, it was to fall still farther into decay, until the in- 
evitable end came. A modern house, facing on Mount Auburn street, now 
occupies part of the site of the historic house, whose claims to remembrance 
are all but forgotten. 

A memorial tablet marks the house of the first printer and honors the 
name of Stephen Daye, but, so far as Is known, there is within the length and 
breadth of Massachusetts no memorial to Rev. Josse Glover, the cultured 
man whose enterprise provided the press, presented the font of types to the 
college and paid the passage to New England of Daye and his three jour- 
neymen. E. H. 

SPENCER— DICKSON— HUNT— HOSPITAL,. (A 49.) 

As early as 1633 Thomas Spencer resided in a house on the easterly side of 
Eliot street, the estate extending from Mount Auburn to Winthrop streets, and 
was next to the Kneeland house. Thomas Spencer removed to Hartford, and 
the estate was sold to Edmund Angier. William Dickson owned it in 1642. 
It was owned, or occupied, by John Hunt, when on June 20. 1775, the Provincial 
Congress "resolved that the house of Mr. Hunt, at Cambridge, be hired for a 
hospital." ' 

GREENHILL-PROFESSOR JOHN AND HANNAH WINTHROP- 
THATCHEU HOUSE. (A53.) 

The first owner of this land at the northwest corner of Mount Auburn and 
Boylston streets, was Samuel Greenhill, who went with the Hooker colony to 
Connecticut and died early; after which there were many owners, but none of 
prominence lived here until it became the home of John Winthrop. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 45 

The house still stands, but altered past all recogrnition, as in its present 
condition it bears no likeness to the modest, dignified dwelling of the past. 
Until recently, the house faced Winthrop square (or the market place, as it 
was called until 1834), having a beautiful doorway in the middle of the front, 
Avith windows on either side; (there was a plain side door on Boylston street.) 
When Boylston street was widened on its west side, a few years ago, this 
house wag" turned round to face that street; the portico, and old front door 
removed, and an exterior extension added, running toward Harvard square, 
doubling the length of the old house, and lo! the transformation was com- 
plete! In the Winthrops' time there was quite a garden at the west side and 
rear of the dwelling, judging from Professor Winthrop's mention of the trees 
which he planted, as well as his vegetables and Madam's flowers; no doubt 
there were flourishing currant bushes also, furnishing fruit for the goodly 
store of currant wine which helped stock the wine cellar. 

Probably no house in Cambridge in colonial times, received under its 
roof more distinguished people than this house of Professor Winthrop. 
In reading the latter's abbreviated diary, one wonders when he ever had time 
for the study and research for which he is noted. Hospitality was the law of 
life, apparently, and dinners, "Ts" and "Coffees" crowded upon one another in 
endless succession. All the scientific and cultivated people of the day were 
frequent guests, as also the leaders of public affairs. Here came frequently 
both the Warrens, John Adams, Hancock and many others. The diary entry 
of September 28, 1778, records: "Count d'Estaing, Marquis Fayette, Mrs. War- 
ren and son to dinner," while that of September 5, says the writer "dined 
at Hancock's house with French officers." College duties, scientific experi- 
ments, social entertainments, made a busy life, varied not infrequently by 
journeys hither and thither, on college or public affairs; the activity was in- 
deed interrupted occasionally, for Dr. Winthrop was a delicate man physi- 
cally, and over-exertion was sometimes followed by days of illness and suf- 
fering; a ride with his wife being the first step of convalescence, would soon 
be followed by a return to the usual energetic routine. A direct descendant 
of Governor John Winthrop (Adam 4, Adam 3, Adam 2, Johnl) Professor Winthrop 
was born in Boston on December 19, 1714, graduated H. C. 1732, and received 
the degree of LL. D. from the University of Edinburg in recognition of his 
scientific attainments. He was the first person to make scientific investiga- 
tions as to the cause of earthquakes. In 1761, he went to Newfoundland to ob- 
serve the transit of Venus over the sun's disc, and his observations upon it 
were published. He also published observations upon another transit of the 
same planet in 1769, and upon the transit of Mercury in 1740. Appointed Hollis 
professor of mathematics and natural philosophy (H. C.) in 1738, he retained 
that position until his death. May 3, 1779, and had the reputation of being 
the greatest mathematician and philosopher in this century, as also a fine clas- 



46 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

sical scholar, and well versed in general literature, biblical criticism, contro- 
versial theology, and politics. He was a fellow of the college, 1765-1779, and 
during his connection with Harvard, a period of more than forty years, occu- 
pied a position of influence in the institution. The presidency was offered to 
him when President Locke resigned, but he refused it, and Dr. Langdon was 
then chosen to fill the vacancy. Dr. Winthrop was one of the fellows of 
Harvard College, who with the president had the pleasure of conferring the 
degree of LrL.D. upon General Washington, in 1776. Always deeply interested 
in public affairs, he was representative in 1774, councillor, 1773, 1775, 1776, and 
judge of probate, from September 6, 1775, until his death. That he was not 
an accepted councillor to the governor in 1774, is due to the fact that of the 
twenty councillors elected by the general court in May of that year. General 
Gage rejected thirteen, who were known to him as advocates of the rights and 
liberties of the people — prominent among these was Professor John Winthrop, 
of Cambridge. Very far from being a fire-brand,- he was well trusted to 
stand by his honest convictions; gifted with great discretion, prudent in 
action, wise in counsel, he was a most valuable ally in the patriot cause, and 
to it he gave generously of his best. 

The first wife of Professor Winthrop, to whom he was married in 1746, was 
Rebecca Townsend, daughter of James and Elizabeth (Phillips) Townsend; 
she died on August 29, 1753, leaving four sons, John, Adam, James and 
William, all of whom in due time became graduates of Harvard College. 
The two youngest, James and William, lived most of their lives in Cambridge; 
James (H. C. 1767) was appointed by the provincial congress, in 1775, post- 
master of Cambridge; in September of that year he was made register of 
probate, and retained that oflice until 1S17. During several years he was 
judge of common pleas, and librarian of Harvard College, 1772-1787. Judge 
Winthrop was one of the founders of the American Academy of Arts and 
Sciences and also of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and died September 
26, 1821, aged 69 years. 

William ("Squire Winthrop") outlived his brother, and died in his Arrow 
street residence, on February 5, 1825, leaving the reputation of having been 
a good and useful citizen; he had served the public as town clerk, selectman 
and senator. 

Three years after the death of his first wife, Professor John Winthrop mar- 
ried Hannah Fayerweather Tolman, daughter of Thomas and Hannah (Waldo) 
Fayerweather, of Boston, and widow of Farr Tolman. This stately and aris- 
tocratic lady was a good mother to her stepchildren, to her husband a devoted 
wife. Endowed with a fine mind and intellectual tastes, she sympathized with 
his pursuits and at times acted as assistant in his astronomical work. Bring- 
ing into both intellectual and social life a vivacity which must have been 
Inspiring, she carried with It sound sense and a good heart. To her eloquent 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 47 

pen we owe many a picture of life before and during the Revolutionary War; 
■with her life-long friend, Mrs. James Warren, of Plymouth, she maintained 
a correspondence of many years. Mrs. John Adams was a third in this di- 
version and the three acquaintances, under the assumed names of Philomela, 
Honora and Portia amused themselves with exchanging epistolary ebullitions 
even when their lives were shadowed by great anxieties. Madam Winthrop 
was an ardent patriot; in this, she and her husband were as one; records 
show that she proved her sincerity in a substantial manner. The discretion 
of the husband doubtless held in check the outspoken, imprudent utterances 
of the spirited wife, for Dr. Winthrop had a rare wisdom in these matters, but 
they were both true to the cause. Their devoted life together in the Winthrop 
square house, was broken by the death of Professor "Winthrop, May 3, 1779. 

Madam Winthrop lived until the May of 1790, and the old home knew them 
no more. 

Professor Winthrop's diary, remarkable for what it does not tell, contains 
many interesting items. Perhaps it may interest readers to know that on 
June 3, 1744, "% after 10 A. M. a earthquake wh shook ye houses and much 
surprised ye people in the meetinghouse occasioned great numbers of ym to 
get out in speed. Ye night following y were 3 or 4 rumbles of earthquakes." 
January 29, 1759: "Electrical disturbances— bells ring." February 2: "Consider- 
able earthquake was preceded and attended by y usual roar which waked more 
people. I heard it very distinctly and I perceived the house to crack and y 
bed in our house shook. I believe it lasted Vz minute. T night was calm, 
Clare, warm and moderately rainy — ye rain coming in light showers." May, of 
the same year, 1759: "Greatest number of bears came down that was ever 
known. Some killed at Brookline, Cambridge, and other places within 2 or 
3 miles of Boston." June 15, 1775: "Cambridge P. M. Began to pack ap- 
paratus." June 16: "All day packing apparatus and Library" (to be carried 
to Andover for safety). June 17: "Charlestown Burnt, Battle of Bunker Hill." 

In this battle James Winthrop participated, and was brought home wounded. 
Colonel Samuel Thatcher lived here during the latter years of his life. 
He died in 1786. For account of Colonel Thatcher see p. 120. E. H. 

MORRILL-SKIDMORB-STACET-BEAN HOUSE. (A55.) 

Abraham Morrill was the first owner of the land. He lived here in 1635. 
Before 1650 he removed to Salisbury and died about 1662. The triangular lot 
between Boylston street and Brattle square belonged to Thomas Skidmore in 
1642. His son John was born here in 1643. His stay in Cambridge was short, 
for he removed to Hartford and died there in 1649. 

Thomas Stacey, blacksmith, who married Hannah Hicks in 1683, lived here. 
He was father of P.ev. Joseph Stacey, of Kingston, H. C. 1719. Susanna, the 
daughter of Thomas Stacey, Jr., married Cutting Bean, and their son Thomas 



48 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

8old their share of the homestead to Joseph Bean. Part of the estate was sold 
ia 1758 to John Warland. 



DUNSTER STREET AND ITS EARLY HOUSES. 
DUDLEY-HARLACKENDEN-PELHAM HOUSE, 1631. (Al.) 

The earliest house built in Cambridge Village was that of the Governor; see 
page 2. Governor Dudley's house continued to be a social and political centre, 
even after he left Cambridge. The next inmate was Roger Harlackenden, the in- 
timate friend of Rev. Thomas Shepard, who sailed with Mr. and Mrs. Shepard 
in "The Defense," landing in Boston on October 3, 1635. Soon after Mr. Shep- 
ard graduated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, England, he took orders in the 
English Established Church, and, for more than three years, was lecturer at 
Earls-Colnc, Essex, the home of the Harlackenden family, who traced their 
lineage back to "William Harlackenden, who died in Wood Church, Kent, in 
1081. Richard and Roger Harlackenden became the fast friends of the young 
lecturer and stood by him in all his troubles. Shepard said: "They were so 
many fathers and mothers to me." Roger lost his wife, Emlen, August 18, 
1634, and he seems, after that, to have joined the Shepards in 
their hiding place in Norfolk, where he paid all expenses 
of housekeeping, and, in the spring of 1635, went to London with 
them. We do not know where he met his second wife, but he married her 
on June 4, of that year. She was Elizabeth, daughter of Godfrey Bosvir.e, 
Esq., and, on August 10, the newly married couple set out on the perilous 
voyage to New England, taking with them' Roger's sister, Mabel, who, later, 
married Governor John Haynes. Roger was then twenty-five years old; 
probably the ladies were younger. 

The newcomer seems to have taken the greatest interest in the new town. 
Roger Harlackenden attended the first town meeting, after his arrival, No- 
vember 23, and was at the head of the list of those then "chosen to order 
bussines of the whole Towne for the year following." The next year, he 
was chosen assistant. Many grants of land to him are recorded and, at one 
time, he owned three houses in the town. When a regiment was formed 
from the men of the towns of Cambridge, Charlestown, Watertown, Con- 
cord and Dedhami, with Governor Haynes as colonel, he was chosen lieuten- 
ant-colonel. Winthrop writes: "He was a very Godly man and of good use, 
both in the Commonwealth and in the Church." 

Two little daughters were born in the Dudley house, and, when Elizabeth 
was not quite two years old and Margaret only two months, the father sick- 
ened of the dread small-pox and died, November 17, 1638, aged twenty-seven. 
His death occasioned public lamentation; he was buried with military honors 
In the old burying ground. The minister. Rev. Thoma-s Shepard, was incon- 
solable and called him "My most dear friend, and most precious servant of 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 49 

Jesus Christ." Soon after this event, another friend of Rev. Mr. Shepard 
came to Cambridge with his family. This was Herbert Pelham, grandson 
of Lord Delaware, on his mother's side, and a near relative of the Duke of 
Newcastle, on his father's side. He was born in 1601 and lived in Lincoln- 
shire, England, and was the firm friend of the colony, giving of his influence, 
advice and money on both sides of the Atlantic. He was a widower with 
three children — Waldegrave, about eleven years old; Penelope, seven; and 
Nathaniel, six. Their mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas, and grand- 
daughter of Sir William Waldegrave. 

It was not long before the widow of Roger Harlackenden became the wife 
of Herbert Pelham. Mr. Harlackenden had left in his will twenty pounds to 
the church, and Mr. Pelham paid it, by giving them a milch cow, in the spring 
of 1640. He was then probably married. The old governor's house was now 
full of children, five to begin with, from the two families; and now eight 
more, five daughters and three boys— Herbert, who died a baby, in January, 
1646, and Edward' and Henry. Herbert Pelham's sister Penelope married 
Governor Bellingham, and another sister lived to be eighty-three and died 
unmarried, at Marshfield. Doubtless the Bellinghams were frequent visitors 
here, and much of the public business must have been transacted in the 
Dudley house. Herbert Pelham was made selectman, in 1645; assistant, in 
1645-'49; commissioner of the United Colonies, in 1645-'46; and was intrusted 
by the General Court with, much important business. Roger Harlackenden 
had been appointed by the General Court on the committee to have charge 
of the affairs of the college with Governors Winthrop, Dudley and Belling- 
ham, November 20, 1637; and now, December 27, 1643, Herbert Pelham became 
first treasurer of the college. (His son Nathaniel graduated in 1651 and Ed- 
ward in 1673.) He was also interested in Eliot's work among the Indians and 
was the second person named in the act incorporating the "Society for Propo- 
gating of the Gospel among the Indians." 

But, alas! Cambridge was soon to lose this important man. In 1649, he 
returned to England, where he became a member of parliament and rendered 
frequent service to the colonies. He was buried, July 1, 1673, at Bury St. 
Mary, Suffolk. Of his children, Waldegrave inherited his English estates; 
Penelope married Governor Josiah Winslow and died at Marshfield, Decem- 
ber 7, 1703; Nathaniel was lost at sea, on his way to England, in 1657; Ed- 
ward remained in New England and was heir to the property here. It was 
left in trust to his brother-in-law. Governor Josiah Winslow, and he was 
only to have it if he should "so behave and demean himself that he can 
procure either the hands of the Governor and four of the Assistants of the 
Colony of the Massachusetts Bay or of New Plymouth Government, that he 
is now grown serious, sober and solid and follows his study, and avoids all 
idle and profane company, and that they verily conceive there is a real 

4 



50 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

change in him for the better, and not only to attain his ends thereby." Only 
one of his college pranks has come down to us, and that, in the court rec- 
ords, gives such a vivid picture that it is inserted here in the quaint language 
of the deposition: "Urian Oakes, aged 14 years and upwards, do testifie that 
about 10 days since he and Percifall Greene, being gathering up fruite in the 
Marshal's [Greene] orchard; Mr. Edward Pelham came to them with a 
fowling peece in his hand and desired him to shoot a foule of Goodman Far- 
lengs, and, when he was disapoynted there he brought him to ye fence be- 
tween ye Marshal's yard and Captain Gookin's, where sat a turkie, and de- 
sired him to shoot yt, wch he accordingly did, and ye fowle being killed ye 
sd Pelham took ye coate of ye sd Urian and wrapt up the turkie in it, and 
sent it by Percifal Greene to Samuel Gibson's and bid him leave it at ye 
said Gibson's house." "Samuel Gibson being examined do confess yt about 
10 days since Percifal Greene came to his house and brought a turkie wrapt 
up in a coate and left it there, and was dressed by his wife and baked in 
the oven, and, in the night following, it was eaten by Mr. Pelham, John Wise 
and Russell, studts." This was in 1672. In spite of this deed, Edward Pel- 
ham seems to have "grown serious," for he inherited the property and is said 
to have married two daughters of Governor Benedict Arnold, of Newport, 
R. I., Godsgift and Freelove Arnold. He had two sons, Edward and Thomas, 
to whom he left his Cambridge lands. 

The Dudley house, the first house built in Cambridge, which was so identi- 
fied with the early history of the town, never passed into unworthy hands. 
It was burned in 1666, while still the property of Herbert Pelham's son, Ed- 
ward, as is related in the deed of February 27, 1691, by which Edward Pel- 
ham made over the land on which it once stood to Aaron Bordman. 

THE FIRST TAVERN. (A2.) 

The land between the Dudley house and the first meeting house was owned 
by Matthew Allen, who built the house on the northwest corner of Long (Win- 
throp) street and Water (Dunster) street. He was deputy to the general 
court, but went with Rev. Mr. Hooker to Connecticut, where he held many 
offices in the government. The house, which was probably well built and 
commodious, became the property of Deacon Thomas Chesholme, a tailor, who 
came over in Shepard's company. He became the first steward of Harvard 
College. In 1636, he was licensed by the General Court to "keep a house of 
entertainment," so, as Paige says, "the first tavern was next to the first 
meeting house and the first inn-keeper was deacon of the church." 

Thomas Chesholme was a man greatly respected. He died in 1671. He had 
no children, but brought up in his family Benonl Eaton, the church providing 
his clothes. He was the son of Nathaniel Eaton, brother of Governor The- 
ophilus Eaton, who. was the first teacher of the college. He and his wife 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 51 

were accused of avarice, starving' the students, and of cruelty. Mather, writ- 
ing: of him, says: "A society of scholars was forming under the conduct of one 
Mr. Nathaniel Eaton, a blade who marvellously deceived the expectations of 
good men concerning him, for he was fitter to be a master of Bridewell 
than a College." He was said to be a rare scholar, but the General Court 
fined him and discharged him from office. He fled to Virginia and, while 
there, sent for his wife and children. She went, taking the family with her, 
except Benoni, and all were lost at sea. Master Eaton died in England in 
a debtor's prison. 

But, to return to the old tavern, after the death of good Deacon Ches- 
holme, it was sold to Isaac Da ye, "heretofore citizen and embroiderer of Lon- 
don." His widow, Susanna, probably the daughter of Robert Meriam, of 
Concord, sold it, in 1692, to Richard Proctor, of Boston. In 1706, when Nicholas 
Fessenden, Jr. (H. C. 1701), married Sarah, widow of Stephen Coolidge, and 
daughter of Captain Josiah Parker, he bought this house and lived in it. 
He was register of probate, 1704-1709, and ma,ster of the grammar school for 
eighteen years. He died suddenly, October 5, 1719, and his widow and chil- 
dren sold the house, in 1737, to Edward Tyng. It was long the residence of 
Thaddeus William Harris, librarian of Harvard College, and was burnt in 
1839. The doorstep of the old inn is still in existence, property of the Mis- 
ses Harris. 

CUTTER-EATON HOUSE. (A3.) 

When Benoni Eaton grew up, he was a malster and mar- 
ried and lived next door to the inn, in the house that William Cutter had 
built on the southwest corner of Dunster and Winthrop streets, be- 
fore he returned to Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Benoni Eaton died in 1690 and, with- 
in a year, his widow, Rebecca, married John Hastings, Jr. There was not 
money enough to pay his debts, and his daughter Rebecca's husband, John 
Bunker, took the house, and it passed into the Moore family. 

HOPKINS-ANGIER HOUSE. (A5.) 

Opposite the First Meeting House, on the northwest corner of Spring Lane 
(Mount Auburn street) and Water street, was the house of John Hopkins, 
also one of the Hooker's followers to Hartford. Edmund Angler, from Ded- 
ham, England, took the house, in 1636. His wife was Ruth, daughter of that 
famous light. Dr. Ames. They had six children. Mrs. Angler died in 1656. Her 
daughter, Ruth, married Rev. Samuel Cheever, of Marblehead, and her son, 
Rev. Samuel Angler, was minister at Watertown West Parish and married 
Hannah, daughter of the president of Harvard College, Urian Oakes. He 
was great-grandfather of MacJame Cralgie. In less than a year after the 
death of his wife, Edmund Angler married Anne Batt, of Newbury, who 



52 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

brought him eight children. One daughter, Elizabeth, married Rev. Jona- 
than Pierpont, of Reading, and another, Sarah, married Rev. Christopher 
Tappan, of Newbury. Edmund Angler was one of the first merchants of 
Cambridge, grocer and woolen draper. His shop was diagonally across from 
his house. He died in 1692, aged 80 years, and his grandson, Samuel Angler, 
Jr., the shoemaker, son of Rev. Samuel, lived in the house until his death, 
in 1722. His widow and children sold it to Ebenezer Stedman, in 1750. So it 
was in the same family for one hundred and sixteen years. 

AUSTIN-BLODGET-KEMPSTER-HOLDEN HOUSE. (A6.) 

There were two houses between Angier's house and the one on the corner 
of Harvard square. The southerly one belonged to Jonas Austin, then in 
rapid succession passed into the ownership of Thomas Blodgett, then of 
Elder Edmund Frost, who sold to Widow Katherine Haddon. In 1644, it be- 
longed to Daniel Kempster, the carpenter. His name is mentioned several 
times in the old town records, permission being given him to cut down cer- 
tain trees "for his trade." He lived here twenty-two years. In his will, he 
divides his property between his cousins and kinsmen, giving money 
to his niece, "daughter of Brother John Kempster, sometime of Needum, Eng- 
land," and to Elder Edmund Frost, the residue to "such as shall be ten- 
der to me and show me kindness in my sickness and old age." He sold the 
house to Justinian Holden in 1666, and died the same year. 

Holden came here in 1634 and bought land in "Watertown and around Fresh 
Pond. His first wife died March 18, 1673, and he married Mary, daughter of 
John Rutter, of Sudbury, by w'hom he had four sons and three daughters. 
He may have lived here with his family, but, in 1698, as recited in his deed, 
Thomas Post was living in the north side of the house and he sold the south 
side to Thomas Moore, of Boston, mariner, "with that part of the chimney 
that doth belong thereto." It probably was a small house, with one chimney 
in the middle. 

STANLEY-PRENCH-BARRETT HOUSE. (A7.) 

The remaining house, on the west side of Dunster street, belonged first 
to Timothy Stanley, then to Richard Champney, who sold it, in 1639, to Wil- 
liam French, tailor, who was lieutenant of tlie militia. He sold it, in 1656, 
to William Barrett and went to live in Billerica, where he was the first 
representative of that town, in 1666. William Barrett was a tailor, and, 
when he bought the house, he brought his bride here. She was Sarah, widow 
of Joseph Champney, of Billerica. The Barretts lived here a hundred and 
seventeen years, until 1773, when Thomas Barrett sold the south half of the 
house to William Morse. This is the last of the old houses opening onto 

the west side of Dunster street. 

M. I. J. G. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 53 

STEPHEN DATE HOUSE. (A8.) 

A tablet set in the wall of Brock Brothers' store, west corner of Dunster 
street and Harvard square, informs us that 

Here Lived 

Stephen Daye 

First Printer in 

British America 

1638-1668. 

Stephen Daye, born about 1594, lived in Cambridge, England. The few- 
facts we know about him are mostly found in the Dunster papers in the 
Harvard College Library. One document shows that, when he was twenty- 
four years old, in February, 1617, he was about to marry Rebecca, widow of 
Andrew Bordman, baker, who had a young son, William. Daye binds himself 
to "honestly according to his degree, educate and bring up ye sd. William 
Bordman, during ye time of his nonage, with, meate, drink, apparell and 
learning and at twenty-ome pay over to him fifty pounds good, lawful money." 
Daye probably worked at his trade of locksmith and learned something 
about printing during the next twenty years, for, June 7, 1638, he entered 
into a contract with Rev. Josse Glover, "to embark with, all speed in the 
ship called *Jolm of London,' for New England, with his wife, two sous, 
Stephen and Matthew, stepson, Williami Bordman, and three servants, to 
work at the trade said Stephen used for three years." Mr. Glover paid him 
forty-four pounds and gave tools and kettles to the amount of seven pounds, 
which Stephen was to repay in twenty-four months. Many of the tools 
were those used by locksmiths, as may be seen in the inventory. 

It is probable that Mr, Glover and family, with the longed-for printing 
press, were on the same ship. Winthrop writes, March, 1639: "A printing 
house was begun at Cambridge by one Daye, at the charge of Mr. Glover, 
who died on sea hitherward." This was, for thirty-five years, the only 
printing press in America north of Mexico. Daye received from the gen- 
eral court a grant of 300 acres of land, in 1641, "where it may be convenient 
without prejudice to any town"; and from Cambridge a share in the Shaw- 
shine lands, and other real estate, but he did not thrive and, in his last days, 
was dependent on his stepson. He died on December 22, 1668, aged about 
seventy-five. He printed the Freeman's Oath, two editions of the Bay 
Psalm Book, the lists of theses at Harvard commencements, 1643-1647, the 
Declaration of Famous Passages and Proceedings between the English and 
Narragansetts, and other works. They were not as well printed as many 
books of that time in England. No printing was done in Daye's house, as 
the records say the press was set up in President Dunster's house. 

Stephen Daye, Jr., died before the familyhad been here a year; his brother 
Matthew lived until 1649. His name stands as printer on the title page of the 



54 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

"Almanac for New England by Mr. William Peirce, Mariner, 1646," on 
which the press work is better done than on that of any book his father 
printed. Matthew Daye was steward of Harvard College and gave part of 
the land for the Fellows* Orchard. He must have been fond of children, for 
when he was dying he asked that a silver spoon each should be given to 
President Dunster's children — David, who was four years old, and Dorothy, 
a baby of sixteen months, "and the third that hath my own name on it wh. 
I brought out of England, to my old acquaintance, little Samuel Shepard," 
the eight-year-old son of the minister, whose baby brother, Jeremy, received 
"my ivory inkhorn in my box with a whistle in it." "The little child 
Moses," who was about nine, his half-brother's eldest child, was to have all 
his furniture, after his mother was done with it, and "the books that may 
serve for the training up of the childe to schoole." His other books were 
given to Sir Brock. To the minister's wife he wished given "my diaper 
table cloath and napkins which were not yet made up." He died, unmarried. 
May 10, 1649. 

The first owner of this lot, west corner of Harvard square and Dunster 
street, was Edward Stebbins. In 1635, Nicholas Danforth bought it for Ed- 
ward Collins, and, in 1642, Nathan Aldus lived here. The next o'^vner was 
Stephen Daye, and, on his death, it went to his stepson, William Bordman. 
Early in the nineteenth century, Willard's Hotel stood here, the entrance 
being near the present waiting room 'of the electric cars. Here people booked 
for places in the stage for Boston, fare twenty-five cents, or for Cam- 
bridgeport, fare eighteen and three-quarters cents. M. I. J. G. 

BORDMAN HOUSE. (A9.) 

The east comer of Harvard square and Dunster street, now occupied by 
Brock & Eaton's store, was granted to George Steele, representative, in 1635. 
He went to Hartford in Hooker's company and the house was bought by Ed- 
ward Goffe, who owned it in 1642, after which it belonged to William Bord- 
man, who on Daye's death came into possession of the property on the west 
corner of Dunster street, to which his son, Aaron, added the 
adjoining land extending to Brighton street (now Boylston). 
Both these estates remained in the Bordman family abput IDO 
years. Although a tailor by trade, William Bordman was early appointed 
steward (bursar) and cook of Harvard College. The latter position he held 
until his death, March 25, 1685. Judge Sewell speaks of him as "Major Bord- 
man," probably indicating his college office, as steward was in some sort 
a major-domo. His eldest daughter, Rebecca, married John Palfrey, Au- 
gust 14, 1664. The other daughters also married into Cambridge families. 

Andrew, the eldest son, inherited the homestead, succeeded his father as 
college cook and was chosen by the corporation to manage the office of 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 55 

steward. He also kept a shop, or variety store. He married Ruth Bull, Oc- 
tober 15, 1669. Their eldest daughter, Ruth, married, December 30, 1696, 
Rev. Benj. Wadsworth, president of Harvard College, who built the old 
President's House, nearly opposite her father's home. Andrew died, July 
15, 1687, aged 41. 

Aaron, son of William, was made college smith in 1675, and succeeded his 
brother as college cook and steward. He inherited his father's estate on the 
westerly side of Dunster street, to which he made large additions and be- 
pame an extensive land-holder. His son, Moses, was a captain of militia 
and an active, energetic man. He was a selectman eighteen years and 
served on various important committees. He married Abigail, daughter of 
Deacon Walter Hastings, and resided on the easterly side of Massachusetts 
avenue, near the common. 

Andrew Bordman, Jr., son of Andrew and grandson of William, was a 
saddler, endowed with an unusual tact for business. Although sixteen years 
old when his father died, he assumed the charge of the store, aided by his 
mother. He succeeded his uncle in the office of steward and college cook, 
in 1703, and so satisfactorily performed the duties of steward for forty- 
four years that, on his death, the corporation entered on their records a testi- 
mony to his faithfulness. He was town clerk thirty-one successive years, 
town treasurer forty-six successive years, selectman eighteen years, also rep- 
resentative in 1719 and 1720. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard 
Trusdale, December 17, 1697. He lived all his life in the homestead where 
he died. May 30, 1747, at the age of seventy-six. 

Andrew Bordman, 3d, inherited the house in Harvard square, east side 
of Dunster street, and succeeded his father as steward of the college in 
1747, which office he held about three years, thus nearly, if not entirely, 
completing a century of stewardship held by members of the same family. 
He also succeeded his father in the office of town clerk and town treasurer. 
He was representative in the general court, justice of the peace, register 
of probate, and judge of the court of common pleas. He married Sarah, 
daughter of Lieutenant-Governor Spencer Phips, February, 1731-2, who lived 
in the fine mansion on Arrow street. He died on May 19, 1769. His only 
sister, Ruth, married John Higginson, of Salem. His son, Andrew Bord- 
man, 4th, inherited the homestead, and, after his miother's death, the whole 
estate, including more than one hundred acres in the northeasterly section 
of Cambridgeport. After 1780, he removed to Tewksbury, but returned in 
about 14 years and lived in what was known as the Cholera House, on 
Plymouth street. He sold the homestead in 1794 to the corporation of Har- 
vard College. In 1805, he erected a house on the corner of Hampshire and 
Winsor streets, where he subsequently resided. A few years previous, he 
sold large portions of his estate, and gave to the town the schoolhouse lot 



56 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

at the comer of Winsor and School streets. He was town clerk and treas- 
urer several years. He married Mary daughter of 'William Blair Townsend. 
It is remarkable that the office of town clerk was held by three generations 
of the same family — father, son and grandson — for eighty consecutive years, 
and the name of that incumbent was Andrew Bordman, throughout the 
whole period. They deserve the thanks of posterity for the very legible and 
neat appearance of their records. As he had no children, this branch of the 
family became extinct when he died, July 27, 1817, aged nearly seventy-two. 

A. L. C. B. 

HANCOCK- DANFORTH HOUSE, 1634-184-. (AlO.) 

Dunster, known as Water street until after 1806, is called in some of 
the old deeds "the main street that goeth from the wharves to the meet- 
ing-house." On the east side, there were several historic houses. In the 
early years, they changed owners frequently. Later, families stayed on in 
the old homesteads. A dark, weatherbeaten house stood on the east side about 
a hundred yards from Harvard square, the second story projecting three 
feet beyond the lower story. The house was taken down within the 
memory of many now living. It was often erroneously called the Dunster 
House. This house was built in 1634, by Nathaniel Hancock (great-great- 
grandfather of John Hancock, signer of the Declaration of Independence). 
He was one of the first company of settlers. He died young,, in 1648, leaving 
his widow, Joanna, to bring up their six children. His eldest son, Na- 
thaniel, born in 1638, inherited the house. He was one of the town drum- 
mers and deacon of the church. He married Mary, daughter of Henry Pren- 
tice, the emigrant, and had twelve children, probably all born in this house. 
The famous "Bishop John Hancock," of Lexington, grandfather of the sign- 
er, who was second master of the Cambridge grammar school, was one of 
his sons. He died in 1719, and his sons, Samuel and John, sold the house, 
in 1725, to Samuel Danforth. 

Judge Danforth was then master of the grammar school. He was the son 
of Rev. John Danforth, of Dorchester; bom November 12, 1696; graduated 
at Harvard in 1715. The year after he bought the house, he married 
Elizabeth Symmes, and they lived here together for almost fifty years. 
Samuel Danforth filled many offices: selectman five years; representative 
four years; for thirty-six successive years on the governor's council; jus- 
tice of peace and quorum; register and judge of probate; and, until the 
Revolution, judge of the court of common pleas. It was from this house 
that he, an old man nearly seventy-eight, went out that memorable Friday 
morning, September 2, 1774, to stand on the steps of the court house in 
Harvard square, facing his angry fellow townsmen, calming them by the as- 
surance that he had meant to serve them by accepting the office of "mandamus 
councillor," and was mortified to learn that this step was disagreeable to 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 57 

them. He told them he would "never accept any office inconsistent with the 
charter rights of his country." Soon after, he went to the house of his son, 
Dr. Samuel Danforth, in Boston, where he died, October 27, 1777. His son, 
Thomas, was a Royalist and fled to England. His daughter, Elizabeth, and 
son. Dr. Samuel Danforth, sold the house in 1780 to Zechariah Hicks, 
either brother or son of John Hicks, who was killed on the day of the Battle 
of Concord. Judge Danforth had bought the land through to Holyoke street 
and also the house south of his, which had belonged to the Barretts; so he 
probably had a large, pleasant garden. 

CANE-TOWNE-BAINBRIDGE HOUSE, 1635. (All.) 

The second house down the street, built by Christopher Cane 
in 1635, was sold by him, in 1638, to William Towne, the 
first sexton of the church, who lived here until the meeting-house was 
built on Watch Hill, when he lexchanged this house for one on the corner of 
Garden and Mason streets, belonging to Justice, widow of Guy Bainbridge, 
who sold it to Nathaniel Hancock, Jr., in 1666.* 

HEATE-MAERETT HOUSE. (A12.) 

The house on the corner of Mount Auburn street belonged 
first to Thomos Heate, who sold it, in 1638, to Deacon Thom- 
as Marrett, who was, it is supposed, the First deacon of the 
Shepard Church. How long he lived here is uncertain. In 1655, Daniel Stone, 
"chirurgeon," was in the house, and he sold it in 1657 to Samuel Andrew, 
mariner, who had lived farther down the street. Andrew commanded various 
ships and, with Mr. Jonas Clark, surveyed the northerly bounds of the Patent 
on the sea coast, reporting to the general court in 1653. He was selectman, 
town clerk, town and county treasurer. He died in 1701, and his grandson, 
Samuel Andrew, sold the house to captain Edward Marrett (great-grandson 
of the second owner), who lived here during the Revolution. His son. Deacon 
Thomas Marrett, shortly before his death in 1784, sold this place to Leonard 
Vassell Borland. This house has been turned around and is still standing— No. 
72 Mount Auburn street, next west of St. Paul's Church. It was long known 
as the Foster house, as Dr. Thomas Foster lived here. It is a two-story house 
with attic and dormer windoAvs and has a finely paneled front door, wains- 
coted rooms and handsome staircase. It is now occupied by the Southern 
Club, of Harvard students. 

*It is probable that this house was early taken down to enlarge the Hancock 
garden. 



68 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAIVIBRIDGE 

SAMUEL DUDLEY HOUSE, 1632. (A13.) 

The house on the southeast corner of Mount Auburn and Dunster streets, 
just opposite the first meetingr-house, was built by Samuel Dudley, the 
son of the governor. He married Governor John Winthrop's daughter, Mary, 
and was gone from Cambridge before 1642, when Robert Saunders had his 
house. Next, it became the shop of Edmund Angier, woolen draper, and of 
his grandson, Samuel Angler, shoemaker, whose widow, Dorothy, soJd it, in 
1723, to Deacon Samuel Whittemore. 

COKLETT HOUSE. (A14.) 

The next house was the home of Elijah Corlett, the first master of the 
grammar school, who, for nearly half a century, fitted boys for college. He 
died in 1687. The house went to his daughter, Hepzibah Champney, and in 1738, 
it was sold by Dr. Ammi Ruhamah Cutter, of Yarmouth, the grand nephew of 
Mrs. Elijah Corlett, to Judge Edmund Trowbridge. 

ANDREW USHER HOUSE. (A15.) 

In 1635 this house belonged to William Andrew, in 1642 to Hezekiah Usher, 
the first bookseller in the colonies, who removed to Boston in 1645. His son, 
Hezekiah Usher, Jr., born in Cambridge, 1G39, married Bridget, daughter of 
Lord Lisle, and widow of President Leonard Hoar of Harvard. The later own- 
ers of the house are net known. 

JOHN HICKS HOUSE. (A16.) 

We now come to the one old house, still standing in this street, that of 
John Hicks, the patriot, who was killed near the junction of Massachusetts 
and Rindge avenues by the reti-eating British, on April 19, 1775. He 
was great-grandson of Zechariah Hicks, the founder of the family. He was 
bom on May 23, 1725, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Jonathan Nutting, 
of Wrentham. His son Jonathan was a graduate of Harvard, in 1770, and was 
surgeon in the Revolutionary War. This house is on the southeast comer of 
Dunster and Winthrop streets. In the early times, other noted persons lived 
in a still older house on this site — Major Simon Willard, who left in 1635 
to become one of the founders of Concord, and Edward Mitchellson, who 
was marshal general, or high sheriff, fom 1637 till his death, in 1681. His 
daughter, Ruth, married John Green, who succeeded him in his office, and 
their son, Jonathan, sold the house to Joseph Coolldge In 1696. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 59 

JOHN BRIDGE HOUSE. (A17.) 

The house on the northeast corner of Dunster and South streets, directly 
opposite Governor Dudley's, was built by John Bridge, whose statue may be 
seen today on Cambridge Conmion. He lived here until he bought the 
site of the Longfellow bouse. 

BENJAMIN-PAYNE-MANNING HOUSE. (A18.) 

The last house between South street and the river was built by Constable 
John Benjamin, in 1635, who sold it to Moses Payne in 1646. Henry Adams 
lived here a few months, and it then passed into the Manning family, who 
kept it till 1720, when Samuel Manning, Jr., sold it to Jonathan Remington. 

M. I. J. G. 

HOLYOKE STREET. 
STEELE-BRADISH HOUSE. (28.) 

Holyoke street, called in the early times Crooked street, then much more 
crooked than now, was the most easterly street of the old town. At the 
head of the street, on the west corner, was the house of John Steele, who had 
a grant of land here in 1635. He was a brother of George Steele, who lived 
on the easterly corner of Harvard square and Dunster street. Between their 
lands, a little way back from the road, was the common, or village pond, 
where the cattle were doubtless driven to drink on their way to and from the 
cow common. This pond was drained and filled in by owners of the adjacent 
lands in 1671. Both the Steeles went to Hartford with Rev. Mr. Hooker and 
John sold his house to Robert Bradish in 1635. 

Robert Bradish was one of Shepard's company. His first wife 
died here in 1638, and he married Vashti, whose surname is not 
known. He lived until 1659. In 1654, President Dunster wrote to the county 
court In behalf of Sister Bradish, "that shee might be encouraged and coun- 
tenanced in her present calling for baking of bread and brewing and 
selling of penny bear, without which shee canot continue to bake: In both 
which callings such is her art, way and skill, that shee doth vend such com- 
fortable penniworths for the relief of all that send unto her, as elsewhere 
they can seldom meet with. Shee was complained of unto me for harboring 
students unseasonably, spending their time and parents' estate; but upon 
examination I found It a misinformation, and that shee was most desirous 
that I should limit or absolutely prohibit any; that in case of sickness, or 
want of comfortable bread or bear in the college only, they should thither 
resort and then not to spend above a penny a man, nor above two shillings 
In a quarter of a year; which order ghee carefully observed in all ordinary 



60 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

cases " President Dunster then reminds the court "how Christian a 

thing: in itself godly emulation is as contrary wise the undoing messures 

of monopolyes." 

Widow Vashti Bradish lived until 1672; six years after her death her step- 
son, Joseph Bradish, who had lived iu Sudbury and Framingham, returned 
to live in this house with his wife and children. The youngest of them, then 
a boy of six, is supposed to have been the pirate who was sent to England 
and executed in 1699, when only twenty-seven years old. A younger son, 
John, was the father of Ebenezer Bradish, who kept the famous "Blue Anchor 
Tavern" in Boylston street, near Harvard square, and of Isaac Bradish, 
college smith and jailer at the time of the Revolution. He lived in Win- 
throp street and his son, "William, was one of the two drummers of Colonel 
Gardner's regiment at Lexington and Concord. Joseph Bradish died in 1725 
and two years later the house and lands were sold by his children to Ed- 
ward Goffe. 

WADSWORTH-CHAMPNEY HOUSE. (A27.) 

The first house whose door opened on the west side of Holyoke street was 
built by William Wadsworth, selectman in 1634-5, who went with Hooker to 
Hartford. He married for his second wife, Elizabeth, sister of Rev. Samuel 
Stone and it was their sou, Joseph, who wrested the charter from Andres and hid 
it in the famous Charter Oak in 1687. In 1637, Wadsworth sold the Holyoke 
street house to the ruling elder of the First Church, Richard Champney, who 
lived here until his death, in 1669, and was succeeded by three generations of 
Champneys, all bearing the given name of Samuel. The last one, who was 
probably married in 1772, may have lived here during the Revolution. 

MUZZY-LUXFORD-DUNSTER HOUSE. THE FAIRE GRAMMAR 
SCHOOL. (A26.) 

The next estate, going down the street, once belonged to President Dunster. 
Part of the land he gave for the building of the schoolhouse whose site Is 
marked by a stone. Before 1639, this house belonged to Widow Hester Muzzy, 
who married William Roscoe and went to Hartford. She sold to John 
Knight, who sold to Nicholas Symkin, late of Dorchester, from whom it 
came into the possession of James Luxford, one of the few black sheep 
among the early settlers. He seems to have thought that New England was 
so far away from Old England that, if he married here, It would never be 
known that he had left a wife in the old home. His Cambridge wife was 
probably Sister Albone. In 1639, his villiany was discovered and he was fined 
a hundred pounds and condemned "to be set in the stocks an hour upon 
market day, after the lecture, if the weather permit; or else the next lecture 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 61 

day after." The followingr May, he was convicted of forgery, lying and other 
foul offences and was "censured to be bound to the whipping post till the lec- 
ture from the first bell and after the lecture to have his ears cut off; and so 
he had liberty to depart out of our jurisdiction." Probably he sold this house 
to pay the fine, for it was just at this time that Mrs. Glover bought it. 
Later, her second husband, President Dunster, sold it to Thomas Fownell, but 
bought it back in 1648. It is thpught that the house had been used for some 
years for a school before President Dunster gave the land for the school- 
house, which was built under the direction of Edward Goffe and himself. It 
became the property of the town, by absolute deed from the widow and chil- 
dren of President Dunster, in 1660. President Dunster played such an im- 
portant part in the development of the tov^Ti and college that no history of 
Cambridge would be complete without some notice of this great man. 

Henry Dunster was one of that noble company who, in the seventeenth 
century, emigrated to the new world and laid the foundation of our civil and 
religious institutions. The place and year of his birth cannot be exactly 
ascertained. He was educated in Magdalen College, Cambridge, England, 
B.A., 1630, M.A., 1634, and is said to have been the son of Henry Dunster, of 
Balehoult, Bury, Lancashire. His father was a man of liberal education, 
living March 20, 1640, as appears by a letter from him of that date. Mr. Dun- 
ster arrived in Boston in the summer of 1639, and lived on his own estate at 
the northeast corner of Court and Washington streets. Dunster was soon 
called by the elders, ministers and magistrates, almost by acclamation, to 
move to Cambridge and was made president of Harvard College, August 27, 
1640, which office he held until October 24, 1654. He it was who formed the 
laws that long governed the college and laid down the course of studies to 
be pursued, which was very different from that in use in the English uni- 
versities at that time. When made president, he was a young man, and un- 
married. The following year, June 22, 1641, he married Elizabeth Harris, 
widow of Rev. Josse Glover. It is probable that President Dun- 

ster lived in his wife's house, on the west side of Winthrop square, until her 
death in 1643. He had a lot of six acres on the northerly side of Brattle 
street in 1641, and his barn stood there near the town spring. He raised 
money among the friends of the college to build a president's house, to 
•which he moved after his wife's death. It has long been a matter of conjec- 
ture where this house stood. Recently, Andrew McFarland Davis has found 
among the records of Harvard University the following resolution, passed at 
a meeting of the corporation in 1724 : 

"Whereas, the college is now without a president's house, it being removed 
when the Massachusetts College was built, etc." 

There is no other record of a president's house prior to that time, so it 
seems reasonably certain that the house built by President Dunster stood 



62 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

within the limits of the college yard, on part of the land where Massachusetts 
Hall now stands. 

President Dunster had no children by his first marriag-e, but he became 
the guardian of Mr. Glover's five children, a trust which he executed as "a 
kind and watchful parent and considerate instructor." As an illustration 
of the manner in which justice was administered more than two hundred and 
fifty years ago, it may be mentioned that, on <the final settlement of his ac- 
count by the court, President Dunster was required to pay for the use of all 
the property of his wife and to surrender every article or its equivalent to her 
children. On the other hand, he was allowed payment for the children 
while in his family and also for the maintenance of his wife, with a maid 
to attend her, and the medical and funeral expenses. 

The year after the death of his first wife, Mr. Dunster married another 
Elizabeth, by whom he had five children, three sons and two daughters, 
all of whom were born In Cambridge. Paige says: "It is singular that so 
much obscurity should rest on such a distinguished family; even the name or 
origin of his second wife not being known— the only clue which the most 
diligent search has obtained is a bequest to her in his will of twelve or sixteen 
books 'brought by her out of England.' " 

Rev. Samuel A. Eliot, Sr., TVTites: "Probably the college has never had a 
more able, faithful, devoted officer than Dunster. His labors were not con- 
fined to the toils of instruction and government; but in the midst of these 
he was obliged to struggle, not always successfully, for the means of support 
for himself, the college and the more needy of his pupils." It is to its 
first president that Harvard is indebted for its seal, the word "Veritas" on 
the three open books, as well as for its charter. President Eliot said, some 
time since: "Two hundred and forty-five years ago, Henry Dunster, the 
first president of Harvard College, was turned out of his oflSce by the Con- 
gregationalists, who then ruled Massachusetts, because he had ceased to be- 
lieve in infant baptism, finding adult baptism more scriptural and edifying. 
He was turned out on a cold, rough, thankless world after fourteen years of 
the most devoted service, under the most adverse conditions; but today 
Dunster is one of Harvard's saints and heroes, and for a hundred years Har- 
vard has been devoted, in every fibre of her body and every drop of her blood, 
to freedom of thought and speech." 

In October, 1654, Dunster was compelled to resign the presidency, but he 
petitioned to be allowed to remain in the president's house (which he had 
built "with singular industry, through great difBculties"), through the 
winter. This petition was very reluctantly granted. Now, as his brethren 
were alienated from him and church and state were against him, he was 
forced to seek another home. Here he was not permitted to teach, preach 
or exercise any liberal profession. The town of Scltuate, only twenty miles 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 63 

away, but beyond the jurisdiction of the general court of the Puritans, af- 
forded a shelter and a field of usefulness to the exile, and here he died 
February 27, 1659. 

In his will, he provided for his burial at Cambridg-e and appointed Presi- 
dent Chauncy, who had succeeded him as president of the college, and Mr. 
Mitchell, the pastor of the church, to appraise his library, and bequeathed 
them several books. "This loving and forgiving spirit towards those v/ho 
had so deeply wronged him, shed a beautiful radiance over the last days of 
Mr. Dunster. He was proved to be thoroughly good, as well as great, a man 

to be loved even more than to be admired." 

I. S. W. 

[The inhabitants of Charlesto-^-n, in 1646, granted to PreSdent Dunster Wen- 
otomie, or Menotomy, bounded by the Cambridge line on one side, Misticke 
pond and river and Menotomy brook on the other sides. This tract cf 
land, now included in Arlington, was long known as Charlestown End. Part 
of the land remained in the Dunster family for several generations. The 
president's grandson, Henry, was one of the first members of the Second 
Church in Cambridge (Menotoimy). He died in 1748, having married Martha, 
daughter of Jason Russell, by whom he had eleven children; his daughters 
married into the Dixon, Marrett and Cutter families and his niece, Abigail 
De Carteret, married William Whittemore. Many descendants of President 
Dunster are living and many lie in the old burying ground in Arling- 
ton. One of the sons of Henry, of Menotomy, was Rev. Isaiah Dunster, of 
Harwich. His three daughters, the Misses Dunster, of Pembroke, gave Pres- 
ident Dunster's Bible to Harvard College in 1841. The Old Testament is in 
Hebrew, the new Testament in Greek.] 

THE SCHOOL HOUSES. 

A visitor at Cambridge, late in 1648, strolling through Crooked street (now 
Holyoke street), would have noticed, about opposite the present site of the 
Hasty Pudding Club, a small, two-story stone building, having every indication 
of recent completion. Its gable ends were "-yiTought up in 
battlement fashion," its doorway arched overhead, and a bread 
chimney on one side, of stone and brick, gave promise of a generous fire- 
place within. 

The stranger would have been told that this was the new grammar school- 
house, lately built by several public-spirited men, Mr. Dunster, president of 
the college, at their head. He would also have learned that Mr. Elijah Corlett, 
who had "very well approved himselfe for his abilities, dexterity and painful- 
nesse in teaching and education of the youth under him," was its honored 
master. 



64 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD SCHOOL HOUSES, 1648-1700. (A26.) 

This was the first school-house erected in Cambridg'e, and was occupied by 
that "faire Grammar Schoole, for the training up of young Schollars, and fitting 
of them for Academical! Learning," which had been opened five or six years 
earlier by Mr. Corlett. The quarter-acre lot, on which the new school-house 
stood, was owned by President Dunster, and had on it, originally, a dwelling 
house that was probably the first home of the school. 

The new quarters for the school were built by contract, the masons, with 
great accommodation, agreeing to accept merchandise as their recompense, 
"provided it bee good and merchandible in its kind, whether come or cattle, 
and to goe at such rates as now it is passable from man to man, when the 
aforesaid masons take the aforesaid worke, that is to say, Wheat at 4s., 
Rye at 3s. 6d., Indian at 3s., Pease at 3s. 6d., Barly mault at 4s. 6d. the 
bushell." Although It was by private subscription that this building was 
raised, Mr. Dunster, forced to leave both the college and the town by reason 
of his change of faith, requested, in 1655, that the sum of £40 be given to 
him "upon the account of his outlaying for the school-house." This the town 
refused to pay, though later the sum of £108, 10s. was raised "for the pay- 
ment of the school-house." Mr. Dunster doubtless receiving a share. After his 
death, his heirs renewed the claim for further remuneration. As the family were 
in great need, the town, in 1650, agreed to pay them £30, on condition that they 
grant an absolute deed of sale of house and land, thusi making this the first 
public school property to be owned by the town. Had our visitor entered the 
new home of the school, he would have found Master Corlett, quaintly dressed 
in the wig, small clothes, and doublet, of his age, busy with a small class 
composed wholly of boys, all looking forward to the same goal that attracts 
so many today — Harvard College. 

These scholars were examined "oppenly***att the publicke Commencement," 
by the president of the college, and "also the honored and Reverent Over- 
seers." At times, there were Indian pupils among the number, and these 
were found to give "good s'atisfaction," "conserning theire growth in the 
knowledge of the lattin toungue." One of these copper-colored pupils gradu- 
ated from the college in 1665, but died the following year. Owing to the 
small number of pupils, the stated fees for tuition, though possibly supplement- 
ed by about £7, 10s. each year from the Hopkins charity* were not adequate 
for Mr. Corlett's support, and the town often had to supply tho deficiency by 
special grant. The early town records have a number of entries similar to 

•Edward Hopkins, an Englishman whose sympathies and interests were 
united early in life with the Puritans, came to this country in 1637, where, 
after a brief stay in Boston, he joined the settlement at Hartford, Conn. He 
soon became prominent in business and political affairs, being governor for 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 65 

the following: "It was agreed, at a meeting of the Whole Towne, that 
there should be land sould of the Comon for the gratifying of Mr. Corlet, 
for his paines In keepeing a schoole in the Towne, the sume of Ten pounds, 
if it can be obtained, provided: it shall not prejudice the Cow Common."** "The 
towne consented that twenty pounds should be levied upon the several in- 
habitants and given to Mr. Corlet for his * * Incouragement to continue 
with us." 

The colony also found it necessary to aid thia "memorable old school- 
master," granting him five hundred acres of land, and for nearly fifty years 
he struggled on with his task of fitting boys for college. Such training for 
girls was not thought of, "dame schools" being sufficient for their education. 
As late as 1829, in an official report, 12 months of a school taught by a "fe- 
male" were reckoned as only 4 4-5 months of a master's school. Later, teach- 
ers needed the same "Incouragement" as Mr. Corlett, as the following item 
from the town records shows: "It was put to vott whether their should be 
given by the Town in Comon pay Annually to a schoolmaster twelve pound." 
The master was to teach "both latten and english and to write & sipher." 
In spite of the fact that at town meeting the constables were ordered to 
"forth with take effectual care for the repaire of the meeting house and the 
schoole house," after only twenty years of service this structure was torn 
down and rebuilt; and again, in 1700, a new and larger building, 26 feet by 
20 feet in size, was erected on the same site-H 

This school was made a free school in 1737, and, with 
the discontinuance of a tuition fee, the salary of the master 
was increased. The pupils were not wholly exempt from exponse, how- 
ever, as in 1748 the town "Voted, that the Grammar Schoolmaster in this town 
be desired and is hereby empowered to make a tax on every school-boy, not 



six years. He returned to England, and died in London in 1657. By his will, 
a generous legacy was left "to give some encouragement in those foreign 
plantations for the breeding of hopeful youths both at the grammar school 
and college." Though the final settlement of the will was greatly delayed, 
in 1664, Harvard Colleg- received a share of its bequest, and, in 1713, both 
school and college received the romaiuiii,? legacy. The portion received for 
the use of the public schools appears to have been expended in the support of 
the first public school of the town, and was continued until the establishment 
of the Hopkins Classical School, in 1839. This school was first taught in a 
building near Boylston Hall, in the college grounds, but soon after was 
removed to a house on Main street (Massachusetts avenue), near Dana. This 
school was discontinued in 1854, since which time this portion of the income 
from the Hopkins Fund has been used for sustaining a Hopkins classical 
teacher in the Latin School. 

**Forty acres on the south side of the river were sold for this purpose. 

1 1 According to a map of the town at this time, the school-house was so 
placed that the road divided, and passed on either side of the building, sim- 
ilar to the present situation of the Old State House in Boston. 



66 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

exceeding six shillings, old tenor, from time to time, as there shall be occa- 
sion to purchase wood for the use of said Grammar School." Pupils who re- 
fused to pay were to be excluded from the school. 

This building remained in use until 1769, wiien "it was demolished, a new 
school-house being erected on Garden street, about one hundred feet west of 
Appian Way. On the site of the old school-house, in the meantime, had been 
built a printing establishment, so that, for j'ears following, the spot was de- 
voted almost continuously to the cause of literature. Some bits of description 
of the quaint old school on Garden street have come to us from one of its 
later pupils (the late William A. Saunders). 

FOURTH AND FIFTH SCHOOL HOUSE, 1769-1S52. (C64.) 

The building was one story high, capped with a small cupola, in which hung 
a bell which sounded daily at nine and two o'clock. Over the front door-way, 
which faced the south, was a porch, in one corner of which were kept the 
broom and the water-pail, with its accompanying tin dipper. On the opposite 
side, the day's supply of wood was piled, while the space between was oc- 
cupied by the caps and coats. The boys took turns in sweeping, making the 
fire, filling the water-pail and bringing in the daily quota of wood from the 
cellar where It was stored. Access to this cellar was through a large scuttle 
just inside the door- way, and this, with a square box stove and the master's 
desk, well supplied in spring with the old-fashioned lilacs, occupied the 
central space of the school-room. On either side were plank benches used for 
seats, having a sort of shelf before them, on which to write, while under- 
neath was a place in which to store the lead plummets and home-made writ- 
ing books. The more advanced scholars, however, had copy-books with 
printed headings. Between the benches were narrow aisles, through which the 
master walked, with ruler under his arm, to mend the quill pens or see what 
•was going on, and by which the scholars passed and repassed to their seats. 
The older boys occupied the rear seats, which were graded to the center of the 
room, where sat, on long benches, the little folks of the school, from four 
to six years old, busy or asleep over their A, B, C's. 

It was not until 1826 or 1827, when the building was renovated inside, that 
girls were admitted to the school, and then only a few attended, the rear 
seats along the street side of the room being allotted to their use. 
As examination days came around, the old school-room received an extra 
cleaning. On these impressive ocrnsions the committee presented themselves, 
accompanied by interested parents and friends. "When these august visitors 
lifted the latch, the school rose to its feet in an instant. An examination in 
reading, spelling, ar'Ithmetic and writing followed, to the edification of the 
master, if not the pupils. The only holiday in the week was what was left 
on Saturday after the wood was sawn, boots blacked and the grass raked for 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 67 

Sunday. In winter, the old Half Crown Lot on Mount Auburn street, opposite 
Hilliard street, was the rendezvous for those who could skate or slide. These 
half-holidays were supplemented during- the year by two vacations of a week 
each, one at Artillery Election in the early summer, and the other at 
Thanksg-iving- time in the late fall. 

The school-house of 1769*** was occupied for ovc^r sixty years, but by 1832 
Its days of usefulness for school purposes were over, and it was moved to 
Brighton street, and converted into a dwelling house. 

On tliis site was erected a larger and finer building, the first "Washington 
School. "1*1 Tills name, however, was not given to it until 1845. Previous to that 
time, it was known as the "Latin Grammar School," this name having sup- 
planted the original title of "Grammar Schoole," at an early date. After 
the establishment of the high school, in ISCS, the school ceased to be Latin, 
though. it still retained the name until the new one was 
given. In this school was taught, after the withdrawal of 
the Latin department, a primary and grammar school, until 1852, 
when Its place was taken by the dedication of the second "Washington 
School," oin Brattle street. When this change was made, the Garden street 
schoolhouse* was sold and used for about a year, as a private gymnasium, 
■when it was destroyed by Are. 

SIXTH AND SEVENTH SCHOOL HOUSES, 1852-1905. 

In one way, at least, the Washington School has emulated its worthy an- 
cestor. Its first principal, Mr. Daniel Mansfield, being master for nearly as 

***Next to this school-house, on Garden street, standing back from the road, 
was a quaint and antique cottage occupied by old "Molly Hancock." She was 
very eccentric and very cross, to the amusement of the boys who delighted to 
plague her. She lived in the house during the Revolution, and took great pleas- 
ure in showing the nail on which some British officer had hung his elegant 
"goold" watch. The walls of her rooms were covered with prints and pictures, 
pasted on, as well as hung with trinkets of all kinds, collected during a long 
lifetime. She was burned to death in 1828, having fallen into her open fire, and 
there lay dead, until discovered by the neighbors. 

|*|ln 1840, this school was divided, the girls being sent to the Auburn School, 
in School court, now Farwell place. In 1845, this was made a high school for 
both sexes, but the next year "for reasons of economy, the two schools were 
united in the Auburn building under the name of the Auburn Grammar and 
High School." In 1848, the high school department was transferred to the 
high school at Cambridgeport. The other classes remained, under the name of 
the Auburn Grammar School until 1851, when the building "was moved, first 
to Massachusetts (then North) avenue, and finally to Concord avenue, where 
it became the Dunster Primary School. It has recently been sold by the 
city, and is now a parochial school. 

*In 1847, the ye.Tr after his grndnation, Professor Charles Eliot Norton estab- 
lished here the first evening school in Cambridge, and continued to teach it for 
several years, aided by a student. 



68 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

many years as was the first master of "the Faire Grammar Schoole." The 
present master of the school, Mr. Freese, succeeded him. The following is a 
fairly complete list of the masters of this school, since its establishment: 
Elijah Corlett, appointed in 1636-7; John Hancock, in 1790-1; John Sparhawk, 
in 1692-3; Nicholas Fessenden, in 1701; Samuel Danforth, in 1719; John Hovey, 
in 1730; Stephen Coolidge, In 1730; John Hovey, in 1737; Stephen Coolidge, in 1741; 
"Williami Fessenden, in 1745; James Lovell, in 1756; Antipas Steward, in 1760; 
Stephen Sewell, in 1762; Jonathan Crane, in 1763; Thomas Danforth, in 1765; 
Eben Steadman, in 1766; Thomas Coleman, in 1770; Jonathan Hastings, in 
1772; Jonathan Earns, in 1776; Elisha Parmell, in 177S; Aaron Bancroft, in 
1778; Samuel Kendall, in 1780; Asa Packard, in 1783; Lemuel Hedge, in 1783; 
Samuel Webber, in 1784; Henry Ware, (?); Hezekiah Packard, in 1788; Thomas 
Bancroft, in 1788; Daniel Clarke Sanders, in 1788; Samuel Shapleigh, in 1789; 
Pitt Clarke, in 1790; William Mason, in 1792; James Bowers, in 1794; Daniel 
Kendall, in 1795; Luther Wright, in 1796; Jonathan Whitaker, in 1797; Obediah 
Parker, (?); James Converse, till 1800; Abraham Scales, till 1802; 
Phineas Adams, till 1803; Solomon K. Livermore, till 1803; John Ran- 
dall, till 1804; Robert Adams, till 1805; John Bartlett, till 1806; 
Timothy Wellington, till 1808; Samuel Newell, till 1808; Moses Hol- 
brook, till 1809; Proctor Pierce, in 1812; William Ware, in 1817; James D. 
Farnsworth, in 1818; William Milliard, in 1820; Benjamin Kent, in 1821; G. W. 
Burnham, till 1825; Edward Mellen, till 1826; D. Stone, till 1828; 
H. C. Merriam, till 1829; Charles Stewart, in 1830; F. A. Worcester, In 
1831; Rev. R. T. Austin (Reuben Seiders), in 1833; Luther Farrar, in 1834; 
Ehas Nason, in 1835; Mr. Emery, in 1836; Charles Warren, in 1837; Henry J. 
Parker, in 1837; Rev. R. T. Austin, in 1839; George A. Gushing, in 1840; Daniel 
Mansfield, in 1842; John W. Freese, in 1886. 

In 1890, a brownstone tablet, the gift of Mr. Phillip Nutting, was placed in 
the outer wall of the school, which read: 

WASHINGTON SCHOOL. 

DESCENDANT OF THE "FAIRE GRAMMAR SCHOOLE," 

FIRST SCHOOL IN CAMBRIDGE. 

In an essay entitled, "The Public Schools of Cambridge,' the late Hon. 
Frank A. Hill wrote: "Thus, at length, came to rest the perturbed spirit of 
Elijah Corlett's transformed, dismembered, and wandering school, not quite 
sure but it ought to claim a burial urn in the Cambridge High School, or in one 
or the other of its branches, but content, on the whole, to be known as the 
loyal ancestral shade of the Washington Grammar School.", But alas! Again 
the abiding place of the child of the Faire Grammar Schoole has been disturbed, 
not only driven from its dwelling, but the old homestead given over to the 
hand of the spoiler, who has destroyed both the building and the memorial 
tablet, so long one of its features. A new and beautiful home on the corner 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 69 

of Felton and Cambridge streets proimised to compensate for the loss of the 
old, but only a transitory stay was made there, and the Washington School 
now finds itself merged in the Henry O. Houghton School, on Putnam avenue. 

C. J. A. 



ABBOTT-MOORE-SAWTELL-HOVEY HOUSE. (A24.) 

The site of the church building erected by the Shepard congregation (now 
owned by the Roman Catholic Church of St. Paul's) next south of the site 
of the first schoolhouse, was originally granted to Daniel Abbott, who about 
1639 moved to Providence, R. I. In 1642, Francis Moore was living here. After 
his death, which occurred in 1671, his sons, Francis, Jr., Thomas and John 
Moore, sold the house to John Sawtell, grandson of Thomas Post, of Dunster 
street. He died about 1700, and his widow, Anna, may have resided here until 
she sold it in 1711 to John Knight, who sold in 1729 to Joseph Hovey, whose 
widow married for her second husband, Nathaniel Parker, of Newton, and, in 
1740, sold the corner estate to Judge Edmund Trowbridge, who lived in the 
next house on Mount Auburn street. During the Revolution, he was suspect- 
ed of being a Tory, and went to Byfield for a time, but returned and died here 
in 1793. His residuary legatee was Chief-Justice Dana, whose unmarried chil- 
dren, Edmund, Martha, Elizabeth, and Sarah lived here, after the death of 
their father. 

On the partition of the property in 1822, this land went to the last 
named, Miss Sarah Ann Dana, who gave it to the Sliepard Church in 1830. 
"The gift was accepted by the Society, June 4, and August 4, 1830, a service of 
consecration of the land was held, at the close of which, a member began to 
dig the cellar, and on the south corner the stone was laid." 

RUSSELL-GREEN-TROWBRIDGE HOUSE. 

The lot next to tJie corner, where Judge Trowbridge lived, belonged to John 
Russell in 1642, but soon after became the homestead of Samuel Green, the 
famous printer, who was appointed to take charge of the Daye press about 1649, 
and continued to work for half a century. He died here in 1702, and in 1707 his 
son, Timothy Green, printer, of Boston, sold the homestead. Mr. Green married 
first, Jane, daughter of Guy Bainbridge, who died in 1657, and he then married 
Sarah, daughter of Elder Jonas Clarke. The house was owned by Samuel Goffe, 
and inherited by his daughter Lydia, wife of Rev. Thomas Barnard of Andover, 
who sold it to Judge Trowbridge. 



70 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

STOCKING-MANNING-GODDARD HOUSE. (A23.) 

The next estate, southwest corner of Holyoke and Mount Auburn streets, 
we can only follow down to 1726. The first owner was George Stocking, who 
went to Hartford and sold the house in 1638 to William Manning, the first 
house occupied by one of that name, ancestor of some who are still prominent 
in Cambridge affairs. Later, Benjamin Goddard, founder of the family so 
long well known in North Cambridge, lived here. William Goddard, his 
father, was a London grocer who settled in Watertown, where Benjamin was 
born. Benjamin was a carpenter and married, in 16S9, the daughter of another 
carpenter, Martha Palfrey, who lived on Massachusetts avenue opposite the 
common. About 1712, Benjamin Goddard removed to North Cambridge, 
where he resided opposite Porter's Hotel. His wife, Martha, dying in 1737, 
he married Anne Oldham, who survived him. Elizabeth Gove, widow of John 
Gove, who lived on Boylston street, bought the house of the Goddards. Her 
maiden name was Waldin, and she had been the wife of Mr. Batson. Mrs. 
Gove gave the house to her daughter, Sarah Batson, in 1726, "for the love 
she bore her," and there we liave to leave it at present. 

LEWIS-CUTTER-BllIDGB HOUSE. (A22.) 

The northwest corner of Holyoke and Wintlirop streets had four own- 
ers before 1642. William Lewis, the original grantee, went to Hartford in 
Hooker's company and later to Farmington, Conn. Thomas Besbeech, the 
next owner, went to Scituate and Duxbury and sold to William Cutter, who 
was here in 1638 and later returned to England and was living at New- 
castle-on-Tyne in 1653. From him this land went to John Bridge, the typical 
Puritan settler whose statue stands on Cambridge Common and who lived 
on Dunster street and, later, on Brattle street. 

WESTWOOD-BETTS-JOHN SHEPARD HOUSE. (A21.) 

The southwest comer of Holyoke and Winthrop streets belonged to Wil- 
liam Westwood in 1635. He was selectman, or townsman, in the first board, 
chosen in 1635, but soon after, he too, went to Connecticut and, in 1642, John 
Betts was living here. He came here in 1634, being then about forty years 
old. It is thought that his wife was the sister of John Bridge. In the 
Colony Records of May 18, 1653, we And the following: "John Betts, of Cam- 
bridge, being at a Court of Assistants on his trial for his life, for the cruelty 
he exercised on Robert Knight, his servant, striking him with a plough-staff, 
&c., who died shortly after it, the jury brought in their verdict, which the 
magistrates not receiving, came in course to be tried by the General Court"; 
.... and in the Court Records: "The General Court do not find John 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 71 

Betts legally guilty of the murdering of his late servant, Robert Knight; but 
forasmuch as the evidence brought in against him holds forth unto this 
court strong presumptions and great probabilities of his guilt of so bloody a 
fact, and that he hath exercised and multiplied inhuman cruelties upon the 
said Knight, this court doth therefore think meet that the said John Betts be 
sentenced, viz.: 1. That the next lecture day at Boston (a convenient time 
before the lecture begin) the said Betts have a rope put about his neck by the 
executioner and from the prison that he be carried to the gallows, there to 
stand upon the ladder for one hour by the glass, with the end of his rope 
thrown over the gallows. 2. That he be brought back to prison, and im- 
mediately after the lecture to be severely whipped." He was also obliged to 
pay costs of both courts and was bound over to good behavior for a year. 
He died February 21, 1663. The year before his death he sold this house 
to John Shepard, cooper, son of Edward Shepard, who lived next door. His 
wife was probably the daughter of Samuel Greenhill, who had gone to Hart- 
ford, and in 1681 the Shepards went to that place also, where, Hinman says, 
of John Shepard, "He became a man of consequence in the Colony." 

FISHER-EDWARD SHEPARD-WARLAND-GOOKIN-HILL, 
HOUSE. (A20.) 

Edward Shepard bought the next house of Thomas Fisher, who went to 
Hartford. He was a mariner and died in 16S1, after wliicli his son, John, 
sold the homestead to Owen Warland, the founder of another noted Cam- 
bridge family, who married Hannah Gay, was a currier by trade and was 
constable in 1697. In 1705, he and his wife conveyed half of the estate to their 
son Williami. They probably died in 1716, when William Warland obtained 
the whole estate. His first wife was Tabitha Hill, whom he married in 1701. 
His second wife was Anne, daughter of Captain Josiah Parker. She lived 
here with her son, Owen, after her husband's death in 1727, for eighteen years, 
and then moved to the comer of Dunster and Winthrop streets. 

In 1760, Captain Samuel Gookin, having sold his homestead on the other side 
of the street, bought this house for himself, his wife and daughter, Mary. 
Captain Gookin's first wife was Susanna Parker, sister of the second 
Mrs. William Warland and his second wife was Priscilla, daughter of Daniel 
Dana and widow of Joseph Hill. Captain Gookin was deputy sheriff sixty-four 
years, having been appointed when he was nineteen, and crier twenty-four 
years. His daughter, Mary, inherited the house on his death, about 1767. She 
married, first, James Kettle, 1763, and, second, Joseph Jeffries before 1790. 
She died in Boston in 1825, the last of the Gookin family in Cambridge. Cap- 
tain Gookin divided his property between his own daughter and two children 
of his wife by her former husband, Priscilla and Benjamin Hill. Benjamin 



72 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

lived on the south side of the river, but his son, Joseph Hill, tailor, who mar- 
ried Persis Munroe, lived in this house until he moved to the Benoni Eaton 
house, southwest corner of Winthrop and Dunster streets. He died in 1845. 

ELDER JONAS CLARKE'S HOUSE. (A19.) 

The land south of South street, on the west side, belonged to John Benjamin, 
and in 1642 to John Betts. Here Jonas Clarke, the famous ruUng elder, built his 
house and brought up his large family of seventeen children. He had three wives 

— Sarah ■ , Elizabeth Clarke and Elizabeth Cook. The last outlived him and 

married Deacon Walter Hastings. Elder Clarke was a mariner, well skilled in 
mathematics, and had commanded many ships. He was associated with Samuel 
Andrews in the observation of the northern boundary of the patent and made a 
report on it to the general court in 1653. He was ordained ruling elder with El- 
der John Stone, in 1682. His colleague died the next year, and Elder Clarke 
ruled alone until his death. Judge Sewall thus notices this event: "Lord's- 
day, January 14, 1699-1700, Elder Jonas Clarke of Cambridge dies; a good man 
in a good old age, and one of my first and best friends in Cambridge. 
He quickly follows the great patron of ruling elders, Thomas Danforth, Esq." 
He was the last ruling elder. 

After the death of Elder Clarke, his sons sold the estate, in 1705, to James 
Clark, cordwainer, who seems to have been the grave-digger, as may be 
seen from a quaint document in the probate office. His youngest daughter, 
Elizabeth, inherited the estate and sold It to Osgood and Farrington, mer- 
chants, who probably built a distillery here. It is thought that these men 
had an apothecary shop in Harvard square before the Revolution just south of 
Church street. Thomas Farrington was in the Continental Army and James 
Otis wrote a letter to General Washington, recommending him to any vacant 
position. After the war, he had an apothecary shop on Green street, in Bos- 
ton. The Clark estate was partly marshland, and so we find ourselves at the 
end of the west side of Holyoke street on the bank of the Charles River.* 

THE COOKE-HOLYOKE HOUSE, 1667-1905. (A29.) 

The land on tlie east side of Holyoke street and north side of Holyoke place 
was granted to three proprietors, Joseph Redding, Stephen Hart and Nathaniel 
Richards. Hart went to Hartford, Redding to Ipswich and Richards disappeared 
from the records, and all tlieir lands became the property of Joseph Cooke, who 
came to New England with his younger brother, George, in 1635, in the same 
vessel with Rev. Mr. Shepard. The brothers were registered as servants to 



*0n the e.ist siilo of Holyoke street, near the river. Governor Dudley planned 
to have a fort, which seems never to have been built. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 73 

-Roger Harlakenden, a position evidently assumed for disguise, enabling them 
to leave England more easily. Shepard himself embarked under the name 
of John Shepperd, husbandman. 

Samuel Shepard, the half brother of Rev. Tliomas Shepard, was closely as- 
sociated with George Cooke; they came to New England together, came to 
Cambridge at the same time and together returned to England to serve under 
Cromwell. Cooke as colonel. Shepard as major. Colonel Cooke is supposed to 
have been killed in the wars in Ireland in 1652. While here, George Cooke 
took active part both in civil and military affairs; he was selectman, 1638, 
1642-1643, and speaker of the house in 1645. The same year, he was elected 
one of the reserve commissioners of the United Colonies. In 1637, he was ap- 
pointed captain of the first train-band in Cambridge, a member of the artillery 
in 1638, and its captain in 1643. He was one of the commissioners and com- 
mander-in-chiefl of the expedition sent to Rhode Island in this year to appre- 
hend Samuel Gorton and company. Colonel Cooke probably resided at the 
northerly comer of Boylston and Eliot streets. 

Joseph Cooke, the elder brother of George, became also a prominent citizen. 
His house was on the east side of Crooked street (Holyoke) and his 
land extended from Mount Auburn street on the north, southerly and east- 
erly into the marshes. The house fronted south, facing the stretch of good 
land-marsh and river-"a fair and lovely prospect." He also owned other 
lands, which prove him to have been a man of substance and good standing. 
He was selectman seven years in the period between 1635 and 1645, town clerk 
five years, local magistrate from 1648 to 1657. and representative from 1635 to 
1641. 

It was probably because of his ownership of marsh lands that the town 
ordered, January 4. 1636. "That Mr. Joseph Cooke shall keep the Ferry, and 
have a penny over and a half a penny on lecture days." The fact that he is 
called "Mr." instead of Goodman, shows his position in the settlement. In 
military affairs he was also active, and when his brother left New England 
the court desired "Mr. Joseph Cooke to take charge of the Company in the 
absence of the Captain and till the Court shall take further order." In 1G58, 
he went to England and, while residing at Stannaway. County Essex, in 1665. 
conveyed his homestead and several lots of land to his son. Paige says: 
"Joseph Cooke was the friend and patron of Mr. Shepard in England." 
Shepard speaks most affectionately of him in his autobiography. It is 
thought that Mr. Cooke never returned to New England. 

Joseph, his eldest son, born December 27, 1643, graduated at Harvard in 
1660 or 1661. He married Martha, daughter of John Stedman, December 4, 
1665, and resided on the homestead that his father gave Lim about the time of 
his marriage, and added more lands by purchase. He had his 
father's military spirit, was lieutenant commander of Major Gookln's com- 



74 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

pany in 1677, and was engag-ed in King Philip's war. He was representative 
six years between 1671 and 16S0. He died in 1691, leaving a minor son, Joseph, 
the third of the name, who inherited the homestead, Jonathan Remington ad- 
ministrating for him. He was a farmer and married Eunice , and died in 

1739, aged nearly 68, a little more than a week before his son, Joseph, the 
fourth, married Elizabeth, daughter of Ebenezer Stratton. He was a tanner, 
and the year after his marriage he sold the homestead to the husband of his 
sister Eunice, Ebenezer Bradish, and moved across the river, residing on 
its south side the remainder of his life. So the Cookes lived here more than 
a full century, for the Bradish family owned and occupied the property un- 
til they bought "The Blue Anchor Tavern" on Boylston street, in 1749, and 
went to live there. 

Dr. Holyoke, president of Harvard College from 1737-1769, bought this es- 
tate some time before his death to provide a suitable residence for his wife, 
should she survive him. Mrs. Holyoke occupied the house, thus thoughtfully 
provided for her, when she became a widow. The next occupant was Profes- 
sor Eliphalet Pearson, whose wife was a daughter of President Holyoke. 
From this house Dr. Pearson removed to the Holmes house. Holmes place, 
Dr. Tappan moving into the Holyoke house. He was professor from 1792 to 
1803, and probably hired the house from the Winthrop family. Following Dr. 
Tappan, came Mrs. Hilliard, widow of Rev. Timothy Hilliard, who hired the 
house of Judge James Winthrop. She left it to live with Judge Winthrop as 
his housekeeper. William Winthrop, Esq., then moved into the vacant house 
and made a number of alterations in it. Dr. Harris' notes say: "William 
Winthrop removed the old cills and roof of the Holyoke house, the cills 
formerly projected into the rooms round the sides, raised the house and put 
in new cills; added the third storey and put on the present roof instead of the 
old gambril roof. He bought the place, it is supposed, of his brother, Judge 
James Winthrop." Here he lived until about 1811, when he sold the place to 
Professor Willard, who lived here. 

After the Willards, the house changed hands many times. Mr. Charles 
Folsom lived in it at one time, and later Mrs. Derby. The estate had been 
reduced in the course of years until there was only enough land for the 
house, barn and a moderate sized garden. It finally passed into the hands 
of Mr. Valentine, who lived here until a few years ago, later it was sold to a 
college club. In 1905, the old house was taken down and a brick building for 
a clubhouse has been erected on its site. 

Professor Willard is Dr. Harris' authority for the tradition that the old 
house was built in 1668 upon the site, or nearly so, of the first Cooke house. 
\Mien the workmen were removing tlie liouse, a portion of the cellar 
wall was seen to be much older than the greater part of it, being formed en- 
tirely of large unhewn stones, probably the foundations of the first house. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 75 

The early occupants of the house planted an apple orchard south of the house 
and home garden, vestig-es of which long remained on the estates into which 
the place was divided. The trees were of astonishing size and were said to 
have been of the famous Blackstone stock. E. H. 

GOODWIN-SAMUEL SHEPARD HOUSE. (A28a.) 

There were three houses on the east side of Holyoke street, between Harvard 
and Mount Auburn streets. The corner one belonged to William Good- 
win in 1632, who was a ruling elder and prominent person in Hartford, where 
he went with the Hooker colony. Afterward he removed to Hadley, but re- 
turned to Connecticut and died at Farmington, in 1673, leaving an only child, 
wife of John Crowe. When the second colonists came to Newtowne, this house 
was bought by Samuel Shepard, the half-brother of Rev. Thomas Shepard, who 
was very helpful in establishing the college. Later, he went to England and 
entered Cromwell's army, and is thought to have died in Ireland, in 1673. 

The middle house (A29a) belonged to John White in 1632. He was one of the 
first townsmen or selectmen, he also went with Hooker to Hartford and later 
was one of the sixty who agreed to settle Hadley, Massachusetts, where he 
died, in 1683. Nicholas Danforth bought his estate, and Edward Collins owned 
it in 1642. 

The remaining house belonged to John Hopkins who also went to Hartford 
and sold to Mark Pierce. Daniel Gookin probably bought all these estates and 
lived in one of these houses until he built the house on Arrow street. Captain 
Samuel Gookin, grandson of Daniel, lived here until 1760, when he moved 
across the street. Part of the estate was bought by Rev. East Apthorp. 

M. I. U. G. and E. H. 

"THE BISHOP'S PALACE"— APTHORP HOUSE— CALLED BORLAND 

HOUSE— GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM'S HEADQUARTERS— 

BURGOYNE'S PRISON (A30). 

Between Plympton and Linden streets, near Massachusetts avenue (nearly 
opposite the entrance to Harvard College Library) stands one oif the finest 
Colonial houses in Cambridge, with its old-fashioned garden, shaded by century- 
old elms and chestnuts. It was built, in 1760, by the Rev. East Apthorp for his 
bride, Elizabeth Hutchinson, when he came here to be the first rector of the 
new Christ Church. 

Charles Apthorp, father of the Rev. East Apthorp, born in England in 1698, 
married Grizzell Eastwicke, in Boston, in 1726. She was a descendant of a fine 
old English family. Of their eighteen children (who filled two double pews in 
King's Chapel), fifteen grew to maturity and eleven married and founded 
families which furnish many well known names for Boston today. The eldest 
daughter, Grizzell, married in Boston, March 2, 1746, Barlow Trecothick. They 



76 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

went to England, -where he was alderman, and later lord mayor of London. The 
second daughter married Thomas Bulfinch; to her diai-y and beautiful letters, 
published in the life of her son, Charles Bulfinch, the architect of the state 
house, we are indebted for much of our knowledge of the Apthorp family rela- 
tions. Her youngest daughter married Joseph Coolidge, and their fine house was 
the home of Madame Susan Apthorp Bulfinch in her old age. Charles Apthorp 
was a prosperous merchant, and was also paymaster and commissary of the 
British forces quartered in Boston, and was probably the wealthiest citizen of 
Boston in his day. A portrait of him, by Blackburn, in 1758, represents him as 
"an elderly gentleman dressed in red broadcloth, with black silk stockings, sitting 
in his garden in Quincy, looking toward his house, in the background a view of 
the old Adams mansion." Blackburn's portrait of Mrs. Charles Apthorp is that 
of a spirited lady, quite equal to the management of a household of twenty, 
"dressed in a changeable salmon and green silk, cut square in the neck and 
trimmed with lace." In 1750 Charles Apthorp died, and many sermons were 
preached about his virtues. Even the Rev. Dr. Jonathan Mayhew, so shortly to 
become the bitter adversary of his son, spoke of him as "a merchant of the first 
rank on the continent, an upright man and a sincere friend to religion." 

East Apthorp went from the Boston Latin School to Jesus College, Oxford, 
England, where he took his A. B., and in 1758 his A. M. In 1759 he was ap- 
pointed by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, a 
missionary to Cambridge. Up to this time the only church in Cambridge was 
the old First Parish meeting house. 

The Rev; East Apthorp came to Cambridge in 1759, with enthusiasm for his 
life-work here. His wife, Elizabeth Hutchinson, was the daughter of Eliakim 
Hutchinson and the niece of Governor Hutchinson, then judge of the supreme 
court, and a prominent citizen. Her mother was the daughter of Governor Shir- 
ley, whose home, with its beautiful garden in Roxbury, is still to be found, though 
long since shorn of its beauty. When, in 1756, Governor Shirley went to England, 
Eliakim Hutchinson bought the Shirley house, and there Governor Shirley came 
in his old age to die a poor man. He was, with Charles Apthorp, the cliief pro- 
moter of the building of King's Chapel, and his name is under the corner stone. 
Both the Apthorp and the Hutchinson families were cordially interested in the 
growth of the Episcopal Church in America. When the young rector built 
Apthorp House, he came, not only out of the greatest luxury of life in America, 
but fresh from his student life in England, and with a knowledge of the ele- 
gancies of the life there that many of the simpler American citizens had never 
possessed. Apthorp House, after all the vicissitudes of nearly a century and a 
half, is still stately. Its rooms are spacious, with many windows and deep window 
seats. The chief dining room has a fine fire-place with the original blue Dutch 
tiles. The carved woodwork is especially fine. The old staircase is unchanged 
and has the three patterns of balusters so often found in the best colonial houses. 




o 

H 
P-i 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 77 

The Venerable Andrew Barnaby, Archdeacon of Leicester, England, in his 
"Travels through the Middle Settlements of North America," 1760, p. 141, says: 
"The Rev. East Apthorp is a very amiable young man, of stirring parts, great 
learning, and pure and engaging manners." The records of Christ Church bear 
proof that he was generous in his gifts to it. He was evidently on friendly rela- 
tions with the college authorities and remained so. After the fire in Harvard 
College Library, in January, 1764, President Holyoke appealed for help to supply 
the loss, and the general assembly of New Hampshire, guided by Governor Ben- 
ning Wentworth, made a gift of three hundred pounds to the college to buy 
books. A catalogue of the remainder of the library was sent to the Rev. East 
Apthorp, then in Croydon, near London, with the request that he should buy 
books according to his own judgment. He was made vicar of Croydon, in Surrey, 
England, where he remained twenty-eight years. He had one son, Frederick 
Apthorp, prebendary of Lincoln, and seven daughters. His sister, Griselda Tre- 
cothick, wife of the lord mayor of London, lived for some time in the neigh- 
boring village of Addington with her family. Here came many of tlie Tories who 
had been driven from their beautiful American homes. We read in Governor 
Hutchinson's diary, written in London, March, 1776: "By appointment at Lord 
George Germains, I presented to him the Rev. East Apthorp's petition in behalf 
of the family of Mr. Eliakim Hutchinson." September, 1776: "Dined at Croydon, 
at Mr. Apthorp's house. Judge Oliver and Miss Fanny, and also a young gen- 
tleman, Ives— now Trecothick, heir of Alderman Trecothick." Governor Hutch- 
inson writes of meeting Apthorp in Croydon "much altered in his principles since 
the Declaration of Independence. Apthorp says now America must be subdued 
before there can be any concessions." Governor Hutchinson was buried at Croy- 
don, in 1780, beside his favorite daughter, Peggy. To Croydon came also Mrs. 
Eliakim Hutchinson and her daughters Katy and Frances. Elizabeth Hutchin- 
son (Mrs. East Apthorp) died in 1782, her son, Frederick, and seven daughters, 
surviving her. In 1787, the Rev. East Apthorp married Anne, the daughter of 
John Crich, Esq. She had one daughter, and made a pleasant home for his 
daughters by the first wife. 

In 1807 Mrs, Bulfinch writes to her brother to ask for a silhouette. She has 
recently heard through a friend whom she had sent to her brother, with a letter 
of introduction, and she writes: "Of my brother he speaks with enthusiasm- 
even his erect figure and e;s;pressive countenance greatly interested him — and 
much more the cheerful piety of his heart and the valuable acquirements of his 
mind." In response to the letter, a silhouette of East Apthorp was sent to Mrs. 
Bulfinch, and a copy of this now hangs in the Christ Church vestry. 

In 1796, East Apthorp was made a prebendary of St Paul's Cathedral and had 
the offer of the bishopric of Kildare. The latter he was obliged, by ill health, to 
decline. The positions given him in England show him to have been a man of 
unusual talent and well fitted to be a bishop in America, had America been 



78 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

ready to receive one. In the rolitical Register of 1769, is a picture entitled "An 
Attempt to Laud a Bishop in America," a caricature showing the feelings of 
many of the people here toward the English Church. 

The Rev. East Apthorp returned to England in 1764 and in November of that 
year he appointed Charles Ward Apthorp and George Apthorp his attorneys, to 
sell his share of the stock in trade of his father, Charles Apthorp, the late Boston 
mei'chant, and to sell his dwelling house in Cambridge, for the best possible 
price. May 15, 1765, Apthorp House was sold for one thousand pounds to John 
Borland, Esq., of Boston, who occupied it with his family until the troubles pre- 
ceding the Revolution obliged this staunch Tory to leave Cambridge. His prop- 
erty was confiscated. During the occupancy of John Borland, Apthorp House 
was kept in its original splendor. John Borland married Anna Vassall, his step- 
mother's daughter on February 20, 1750, and their twelve children filled the 
spacious rooms of Apthorp House with life. He was a prominent member of 
King's Chapel, and later of Christ Church, Cambridge. Two of his children, 
Samuel, bom in December, 176.5, an^J Thomas, born in June, 1767, were baptized 
in Christ Church. His oldest son, John Lindall, graduated at Harvard in 1772, 
while the family were living in Apthorp House, and was later lieutenant-colonel 
in the British army. Francis also graduated from Harvard in 1774. John Bor- 
land's daughter, Jane, married Jonathan Simpson, Jr. John Borland died in 
Boston in 1775. "His death was occasioned by the breaking of a ladder on which 
he stood leading from the garrett to the top of his house." He belonged to the 
little group of Tories described by Mada-me Riedesel as sharing together such a 
delightful life — "living in prosperity, united and happy until alas, this ruinous 
war severed them and left all their houses desolate." Troops were lodged in 
this house before the battle of Bunker Hill. In the journals of the committee of 
safety, we find references to the looting of the rich wine cellars, and how the 
strong firelocks found were confiscated greedily but "appraised conscientiously." 

"May 15, 1775, Resolved: That Mr. Borland's house be appropriated for the 
use of the committee of safety, and the quarter-master is directed to provide 
quarters for the troops now lodged at said house. Voted, that the quarter-master 
be directed to remove as many of the three companies now at Mr. Borland's 
house to the house of Dr. Kneeland as the house can accommodate, and that 
Mr. Borland's house be cleared and cleansed as soon as possible." On the same 
day it was voted that "the cleaning Mr. Borland's and Mr. Vassall's houses be 
suspended till further orders." 

Through the Revolution, the house was in possession of the patriots and put 
to various uses. Its most distinguished guest came after the surrender of Sara- 
toga. Abigail Adams writes to her husband in 1777: "Burgoyne is expected in by 
the middle of the week. I have read many articles of capitulation, but none 
which ever before contained so generous terms. Must not the vapouring Bur- 
goyne, who it is said possesses great sensibility be humbled to the dust? lie 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 79 

may now write the 'Blockade of Saratoga.' " This is an allusion to the amuse- 
ments furnished by the versatile general during his enforced stay in Boston. 

General William Heath, in a letter to George "Washington, writes: "We are 
not a little embarrassed in obtaining quarters for the British officers who fre- 
quently inform us that they are to be 'quartered according to rank.' General 
Burgoyne is in Mr. Borland's house, formerly Putnam's quarters, and the other 
principal officers in the town of Cambridge." 

Much of John Borland's Boston property was lost to his heirs by being con- 
fiscated, but the Borland house fell into the possession of Jonathan Simpson, Jr., 
husband of Jane Borland, who purchased it for one thousand pounds, August 
10, 17S4. In the Journal and Letters of Samuel Curwen, an American living in 
England from 1775 to 17S3, we find mention of "Jonathan Simpson, 2d, a nephew 
of Jonathan Simpson, 1st, who married Margaret Lechmere and left Boston for 
Kensington, England, in 1775. Jonathan Simpson, 2d, born in Boston, 1752, was 
graduated at Harvard College in 1772. He married Jane, daughter of John 
Borland. He was a refugee and was proscribed in 1778. He was at Charleston, 
S. C, as commissary of the British army. After the Peace of 1783, he returned 
to Cambridge and for some years was the owner of the large Borland estate, and 
built the house afterward occupied by the Warland family." He died in Boston 
December 7, 1834, at the age of 82, leaving five daughters. In this statement of 
Samuel Curwen do we perhaps find who added the third story to Apthorp House? 
The tradition is that it was built for the slaves of John Borland. 

Jonathan Simpson described the mansion house as "where I now live." He 
was Senior Warden in Christ Church from 1791 to 1796, and was one of the 
parish delegates to the first convention, in 1795. Influenced, no doubt, by the 
general boom in real estate (caused largely by the opening of the new bridge in 
1793), Simpson divided the estate into house lots and what are now Linden and 
Plj-mpton streets were laid out through his property. Next a series of mort- 
gages were laid on the estate, and in 1802, a new combination of owners appeared 
— Timothy Lindall Jennison, physician, and Thomas Warland, gentleman, both of 
Cambridge. They bought the different mortgages, and lastly paid poor Simp- 
son one dollar for his proper title to the mansion house in said Cambridge, "now 
occupied by Mr. William Jenks." Mr. Jenks was lay reader and treasurer of 
Christ Church. 

Almost directly, Warland and Jennison appear, to have been overcome by the 
ill luck which haunted the old house. Mortgages were taken; the house was 
divided into an eastern and western half, with great minuteness of description. 
Warland took the western half and Jennison leased to him the easterly half for 
one thousand years "at the rent of one cent per year— if the house shall so long 
stand and endure." 

Captain Thomas Warland (captain in the Revolutionary war) therefore came 
into full possession of the house in 1803. His son, Owen, graduated from Har- 



80 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

vard College in 1S04. His oldest daughter, Elizabeth Bell, afterwards wife of 
Dr. Samuel Manning, Jr., was eighteen when her father bought Apthorp House, 
and she lived there until her death in 18S0, "a lady of the old school of the best 
type." Her sister, Mary Bell, married Dr. Sylvanus Plympton. The sisters and 
their children shared the house for more than seventy years. In the map of 
Cambridge in 1873, the land bears the names Elizabeth Bell Manning on the 
west half, and on the east half, Mrs. L. W. Spalding, Mary E. Young, Helen N. 
Niles, one-third each. In fact, for nearly a century Apthorp House was in the 
possession of Thomas Warland and his heirs. Three generations of his descend- 
ants—his daughter, Elizabeth Bell, his grand-daughter (the daughter of Mary 
Bell) and his great-grand-daughter, Mary Cleveland, who married Professor 
Allen — all stood as brides in the same spacious drawing room. 

In March, 1897, a decided change came to the old-fashioned garden. A tract 
of land on Bow street was sold by the Warland heirs (Joshua and Mary Young, 
Henry G. Spalding and Lucy Spalding, William and Helen Niles) to the 
Coolidge heirs (Archibald Cary Coolidge, H. C. Coojidge and others), the newly 
organized Randolph Land Trust, and Randolph Hall, a fine brick dormitory, was 
erected. A handsome iron fence was built around the box-bordered garden, and 
in May, 1901, more land was bought, the dormitory turned the corner on Plymp- 
ton street, and the garden became a court-yard between the high brick walls of 
the elegant modern dormitory and the still homelike, yellow colonial house. In 
1901 the heirs of Thomas Warland gave up their title and the descendants of 
Susan Apthorp Bulfinch, East Apthorp's sister, possessed the Bishop's Palace. 
It appears in the catalogue of Harvard College as a dormitory for students, 
under the name of Apthorp House. S. C. E. 



THE GOOKIN-OLIVER-PHIPS-WINTHROP-McKAY HOUSE. (A 31.) 

The house known for almost a century as the Winthrop House still stands 
on the southerly side of Arrow street near the easterly angle of Bow street. 
It occupies the site of a much older historic house, which was erected by 
Major-General Gookin, one of the most active and useful of the early settlers 
of the town. In 1621, Daniel Gookin is said to have emigrated with his father 
from the county of Kent, England, to Virg-inia and probably came from that 
state to Boston in 1644, in which year he was admitted freeman. He settled in 
Cambridge in 1647. Dr. Holmes writes: "His arrival was very opportune for 
the Rev. Mr. Eliot, the Indian apostle, who was now preparing himself for 
his grreat work of evangelizing the Indians. Mr. Gookin, animated with an 
apostolical zeal for the promotion of this pious design, vigorously co-oper- 
ated with Mr. Eliot in its execution. He himself informs us that 
Mr. Eliot was his neighbor and Intimate friend, at the time when he 
first attempted this enterprise and communicated to him his design." In Mr. 



i 




WILLIAM WINTHKOP HOUSE 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 81 

Eliot's evangelizing visits to the Indians, Mr. Grookin so often accompanied 
him that he is said to have been his "constant, pious and persevering com- 
panion." 

Soon after Mr. Gookin's arrival, he was appointed captain of the military 
company in Cambridge and a member of the house of deputies. In 1652, he 
was elected assistant, and a few years after was appointed by the general court 
superintendent of all the Indians who had submitted to the government of 
Massachusetts, which office he held with little interruption till his death. 
In 1663, he was appointed, in conjunction with Mr. Mitchel, one of the "li- 
censers" of the printing press; and ten years after, major of Middlesex regi- 
ment. Through King Philip's war he was very active in raising and fur- 
nishing troops, and in 1681 was appointed major-general of the colony. We 
are told that General Gookin was a man of keen intelligence, irascible tem- 
per, strict in his religious and political principles; of inflexible integrity, dis- 
interested and benevolent, a stout friend and firm patriot. To the Indians 
he was ever devoted and they lamented his death with unfeigned sorrow. 

By Cromwell, General Gookin was trusted and respected and was chosen by 
him to assist in developing his favorite project, that of transplanting a 
colony from New England to. Jamaica. Twice Gookin visited England, pre- 
sumably on public business, and there seems to be no doubt that on his last 
passage from the old country he was accompanied by the regicides, Goffe and 
Whalley, who came with him to Cambridge and were sheltered by him. For 
this, and as the custodian of their slender funds, he was denounced by Ran- 
dolph. 

With Thomas Danforth, General Gookin resolutely and ably defended the 
chartered rights of the colonists during the contest which followed the re- 
storation of Charles II. In the maintenance of religious principles, he was 
as autocratic as in civil affairs and was one of the sternest judges of the 
disorderly acts of the Quakers. His early home in Cambridge was on the 
easterly side of Holyoke street, then Crooked street, between Massachusetts 
avenue and Mount Auburn street, where he lived until he built and occupied 
the house on the southerly side of Arrow street, designated by him in his 
will as his "mansion house." Here, at the age of seventy-five, his good and 
useful life came to an end on March 19, 1687, and his body was laid to rest 
in the southeast corner of the old burying ground, where his tomb may still 
be identified. It is not known who General Gookin's first wife was. He mar- 
ried, in 1639, Marj' Dolling, of St. Dunstan in the West, London, who was the 
mother of his children. After her death, in 1681, he married Hannah, 
daughter of Edward Tyng and widow of Habijah Savage, who survived him. 
His second daughter, Elizabeth, married Eev. John Eliot, Jr. He died in 
1668, and in 1680 she married Edmund Qulncy, and was the mother of Ed- 
mund Qulncy, Esq., who died in London in 1738. Rev. Nathaniel Gookin, 

6 



82 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

third son of General Gookin, was minister of the First Churcli of Cambridge. 
He is said to have lived in the mansion house. He died in 1692. 

The next owner of the estate was Dr. James Oliver, an eminent physician, 
whose wife was Mercy, daughter of Dr. Samuel Bradstreet and grand- 
daughter of Governor Bradstreet. His daughter, Sai'ah, probably born in this 
house, married Jacob Wendell, an eminent merchant of Boston, in 1714, and 
from her many distinguished persons are descended. Dr. Oliver died in 1703, 
and his widow in 1710, leaving her children in the guardianship of her cousin, 
Kev. William Brattle. 

The next owner of the Gookin estate was Lieutenant-Governor Spencer 
Phips. He was the son of Dr. David and Rebecca (Spencer) Bennett, of 
Rowley, and had been adopted by Governor Phips, whose wife was Mrs. 
Bennett's sister. Spencer Phips had bought the Haugh farm in 1706, and 
settled there. It consisted of more thon three hundred acres, embracing the 
whole of East Cambridge and the northeasterly part of Cambridgeport. In 
1714, however, the Oliver estate being offered for sale, he bought it 
and moved into the house. He immediately undertook to improve and em- 
bellish the already delightful place, his wealth enabling him to furnish it 
with every procurable elegance and to maintain an establishment in the best 
style. The estate extended from Arrow street on the north to the river on 
the south, the house facing the river, with a wide, level lawn commanding a 
beautiful prospect. Life-sized wooden figures of Indians gay in paint and 
feathers and armed with bows and arrows sentineled the principal entrance 
to the grounds, startling the casual observer and frightening children. They 
held their place for many years, while owners came and passed on, and the 
remembrance of their fierce and life-like appearance endm-ed to a late gen- 
eration. 

This house now became the gay social centre of the pre-Revolutionary 
days. Probably ten of Lieutenant-Governor Phips's eleven children were born 
here. Of the six sons, only one, Colonel David, survived his father. Four 
of the daughters married noted men and made for themselves homes in Cam- 
bridge. Sarah was the wife of Andrew Bordman and lived for more than 
forty years on the east corner of Harvard square and Dunster street. Eliz- 
abeth was the first wife of the elder Colonel John Vassal! and lived in the 
house on the east corner of Brattle and Hawthorn streets. Mary married 
Mr. Richard Lechmere, whose house was on Brattle street, comer of Sparks 
street, and Rebecca was the wife of Judge Lee, whose estate adjoined that 
of Lechmere on the west. Colonel David Phips married Mary Greenleaf, of 
Boston, in 1753, and his seven children may all have been born here. He 
was high sheriff of Middlesex and resided here until the war clouds of the 
Revolution, in 1775 caused him to slip away with other tories and make his 
■way to England. The property was confiscated, but King George smiled up- 



MAP B. 

68. Croshy-Langhorne-Deming-Brattle Estate. 

69. Read House. 

70. John Champney-Bridge-Blowers-Hill-Episcopal Theological School. 

71. Adams - Bancroft - Remington - Belcher- Frizell - Vassall - Medical Headquar- 

ters-Batchelder House. 

72. Col. John Vassall- Washington's Headquarters-Craigie-Longfellow. 

73. Lechmere-SeTvall-von Riedesel-"English Thomas Lee"-Brewster. 

74. Hooper- Waldo-,Joseph Lee-Nicholls. 

75. Marrett-Ruggles-Fayerweather-Wells. 

76. Elmwood-Oliver-GeTry-Lowell-Hospital. 

77. John Vassall Sen. House. 



i 



MAP 3 

74 Jud^e. 





HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 83 

on him, and rich grants in England compensated him for the loss of his love- 
ly New England home. 

In the latter part of 1776, Thaddeus Mason, whose house in Charlestown 
had been destroyed by the British, the day of the battle of Bunker Hill, re- 
moved to Cambridge and established himself in the Phips house where he 
lived with his family until he bought the Judah Monis house on Boylston 
street ten years later. Soon after graduating from Harvard College, in 1728, 
Mr. Mason was appointed private secretary to Governor Belcher; later, he 
was made deputy naval officer for the port of Boston; deputy secretary of 
the province in 1734; justice of the peace for Middlesex in 1749; clerk of the 
court of sessions in 1735 and of the court of common pleas, an office he held 
for fifty-four years. He was also register of deeds for several years. Mr. 
Mason was three times married. His first wife was Rebecca Williams, de- 
scendant of the Leverett, Addington, and Mosely families; the second wife was 
Elizabeth Sewall, daughter of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Alford) Sewall; and 
the third was Anne Payerweather, daughter of Thomas and Hannah (Waldo) 
Fayerweather. 

In or about 1811, William Winthrop, youngest son of Professor John 
Winthrop, bought the Gookin-Oliver-Phips estate, took down the old house 
and built on its site the present house; here he lived until his death in 1825. 
He was not married. Squire Wintlirop, as he was called, served as town 
clerk, selectman and senator and was through life an active and useful cit- 
izen. He was a graduate of Harvard College, in 1770, and a member of the 
Massachusetts Historical Society, of which his brother, Judge Winthrop, was 
one of the founders. After Squire Winthrop's death, the estate, much cur- 
tailed, passed through many hands. Postmaster Newell was one of its sev- 
eral occupants. In 1862, or thereabouts, Mr. Gordon McKay became the 
purchaser of the house and remaining land. He added the one-storied ad- 
dition on the west side for a music room. Mv. JMcKay sold the house to the 
Roman Catholic organization and it is now occupied by the Sisters of St. Jo- 
seph who are employed in the parochial work of St. Paul's Church. From the 
time of Mr. Winthrop's occupancy of the Gookin estate until quite lately the 
house has borne the Winthrop name. A small strip of wharfage on the river, 
about opposite the house, was called ' Squire's wharf" long after the signifi- 
cance of its name was lost to most of those who heard or used it. 

A. Lr. C. B. and E. H. 

BRATTLE SQUARE. 

Brattle square, in the early days of its history, was very different from what 
it is now. Creek lane it was called then, and the water of Charles river came 
up to the present Brattle street, where it was crossed by a foot bridge. In- 



\ 



84 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

stead of the broad street we now see, a narrow grassy lane led west as far as 
Ash street, where a gate opened on to the "Highway to Watertown." Just 
when the gate was taken away and the road laid out does not appear. 

THE TOWN SPRING. 

A few paces west of the square, on the south side of Brattle street, stood 
the town spring. Tradition says it was valued by the Indians for its medicinal 
properties. Be this as it may, it was famous for its clear, cold, pure water, 
within the memory of those now living, long after the low brick arch that once 
surmounted it was gone and the water was drawn from a well. It is quite pos- 
sible that this was an outlet of the underground river that is said to run under 
Cambridge at a considerable depth. "When Madame Hannah Winthrop lived 
at the corner of Boylston and Mount Auburn streets, about the time of the 
Revolution, this entry often occurred in her journal: "Walked to the Town 
Spring with my husband before breakfast." The site is now covered by Brat- 
tle Hall. 

CROSBY-LANGHORNE-DEMING-BRATTLE HOUSE. (B68.) 

Just west of the spring, still stands the Brattle House, shorn of all that 
once made it beautiful. It sen-es our generation as the Cambridge Social 
Union, where the humblest of our citizens can drink in knowledge. The over- 
flow of the spring formed quite a good sized pond, stretching toward the 
east. There was an island in the centre and rare and beautiful ti'ees and 
shrubs surrounded it, interspersed with statues. The grounds extended to 
the river, and west as far as Ash street, in the later days of its grandeur. 
A mall, or walk, was laid out through the grounds that was the resort of 
the young people. It was the show place of New England. A few still living 
remember the beauty of the Brattle grounds. In the fifties of the last cen- 
tury, the pond was filled up and a large, square, ugly, wooden hotel was built 
on the spot, called the Brattle House. This failed of its purpose and was used 
by the famous University Press for years. From its doors streamed out the 
great flood of nineteenth century literature that made Cambridge famous. 

The earliest owner of this estate was Simon Crosby, who came from Eng- 
land in the "Susan and Ellen" in 1634, aged twenty-six, with wife and son 
Thomas, a babe eight weeks old when they sailed. Two sons, Simon and 
Joseph, were born here and, in 1639, Simon Crosby died, leaving three sons 
under six years old. Some years after, his widow married the Reverend Wil- 
liam Thompson, of Braintree. Thomas graduated at Harvard in 1633, became 
minister at Eastham, where lie founded tlie great Crosby family of the Cape. 
Simon was the first innkeeper In Billerlca and represented the town in the 
general court; Joseph represented Braiutree, and in 1690 was appointed to lay 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 85 

out that town. Simon Crosby, Jr., sold the homestead to Thomas Lang- 
horne, or Longhorne, butcher and town drummer, in 1652. He had married 
Sarah, daughter of Bartholomew Green, and lived here until his death in 1685. 
The next owner was David Deming, fence viewer, who, in 1707, on his removal 
to Boston, sold the westerly end to Andrew Belcher and the easterly part 
to Rev. William Brattle. Deming is called in the deed a "knacker," an 
old word for ropemaker. 

Rev. William Brattle was minister of the First Church in Cambridge 
from 1696 until his death in 1717. He was the son of Thomas and Elizabeth 
(Tyng) Brattle, was born in Boston in 1662, and graduated from Harvard in 
1680. There were four other graduates, Rev. Richard Martyn and Rev. Per- 
cival Green (who were both settled at Wells, Maine), John Leverett and 
James Oliver, who, with Mr. Brattle, lived and labored in Cambridge and to- 
gether did much for the parish and college. Oliver and Brattle were cousins, 
and Peter Oliver, an older brother of James, had married Elizabeth Brattle, an 
older sister of his friend. James Oliver was a physician and lived in the 
Winthrop House. In 1685, both Leverett and Brattle were made tutors and 
worked together for ten years. In 1692, both received the degree of bachelor 
of divinity and the same year were made members of the college corporation. 
Both favored the establishment of the Brattle Street Church, in Boston, 
and, in the troublous three years that followed, both names were struck 
off the college rolls and both restored in 1700. In 1713, both were elected mem- 
bers of the Royal Society of London. 

In 1691, when the small-pox broke out in the college, Mr. Brattle, who had 
never had the dread disease, stayed to nurse the students, took it and retired 
to bed "to Live or Die as God should please to order him." He recovered and 
thenceforth the scholars called him the "Father of the College." On the 
death of his elder brother, Thomas, treasurer of Harvard, in 1713, Rev. Mr. 
Brattle succeeded to the office, which he held for two years. Under the two 
Brattles the revenue of the college was tripled. Leverett had been president 
of the college since 1707. In November 1697, Rev. William Brattle married 
Elizabeth Hayman, daughter of Nathaniel Hayman, of Charlestown, by whom 
he had two children, Thomas, who died in childhood, and William, who became 
heir to his father and uncle. After the death of his wife, Mr. Brattle 
married Mrs. Elizabeth (Gerrish) Green, widow of Rev. Joseph Green, of 
Danvers. 

General William Brattle was born in the parsonage in 1706, so he was 
only eleven years old at the time of his father's death. At seventeen he grad- 
uated from Harvard in the class of 1722. At twenty-one, he married Kather- 
ine, daughter of Governor Gurdon Saltonstall, and soon after his marriage 
(1727), began to build the house shown in our illustration. It is of two 
stories with gambrel roof and attic. A hall runs through the house from 



86 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

north and south and from it paneled rooms lead off on both sides, on the first 
and second stories. The stairs are low and broad and the banisters are 
finely chiseled by hand. On the south side of the house, a long line of sheds 
and stables formed three sides of a quadrangle, on the easterly side the roofs 
were curved. It was quite a large establishment in those days. The present 
porch and piazza are recent additions. 

General Brattle was not only the richest man of his time in Cambridge, but 
was also the most versatile. Sabine says: "A man of more eminent talents 
and of greater eccentricities has seldom lived." He was physician, preach- 
er, lawyer, attorney-general. At twenty-three, he was made justice of the 
peace and selectman, holding the latter office twenty-one years. He was cap- 
tain of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company and, in 1758, adjutant- 
general. In 1771, he was appointed major-general of all the militia throughout 
the province, and from that date the British government had no more devoted 
adherent, thougli up to two years before he had seemed to favor popular rights. 

General Brattle's first wife died in 1752, and of his nine children onfy two, 
Thomas and Katherine, lived beyond childhood. His second wife Martha, 
daughter of Thomas Fitch and widow of James Allen, had no children. She 
died in 1753. General Brattle had long been an overseer of Harvard College, 
and, in 1762, he was appointed one of the committee to erect Ho'.lis Hall; 
also, he was sent to Governor Bernard to ask him not to grant a petition for 
the estabishment of a new college in New Hampshire. 

One of Copley's earliest portraits, painted in 1756, shows General Brattle 
in the full uniform of an ofScer of the royal army. It depicts an erect, 
stoutly built man, probably above the average height. He was fond of pop- 
ularity and it must have been a disappointment to him not to have been made 
a mandamus councilor. At the beginning of the troubles he worked for 
peace, but at the same time corresponded with General Gage, keeping him 
informed of all that was going on In Cambridge. One of these letters, 
said to have been picked up in the streets of Boston, was printed in the 
•'Boston Gazette," and on September 12, 1774, General Brattle defended him- 
self in the same paper. After this. General Brattle found it expedient to 
retire to Boston, where he remained during the siege and on the withdrawal 
of the troops he sailed with them to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he died, 
October, 1776. It is said that a stone in the burial ground tliore marks his 
resting place. He gave a bill of sale of all his property to his son, who was 
then in England. 

The Tory owner having departed, the Brattle House fell into the hands 
of the patriots. When Washington entered Cambridge, there rode in his suite 
his first aide-de-camp. Major Thomas Mifllin, a Philadelphia merchant, who 
had come into prominence at the town meeting held in his city on the receipt 
of the news of the battle of Lexington. He had said on this ocacsion: "Let 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 87 

us not be bold In declarations and afterwards cold In action. Let not the 
patriotic feeling: of today be forg-otten tomorrow, nor have it said of Phila- 
delphia that she passed noble resolutions, slept on them and afterwards ne- 
glected them." Major Mifflin was soon appointed commissary-general, an im- 
portant office, when the ragged army had to be uniformed as well as fed. He 
was quartered in the Brattle House, and here he was later joined by his wife. 

Major Mifflin was thirty-two years old at this time, and had been married 
eight years before to his own cousin, Sarah, daughter of Morris Morris, of Phil- 
adelphia. He was a fine looking man, rather under the average height, but 
athletic and capable of enduring much fatigue. He was full of energy and 
an ardent patriot; though a Quaker, he longed to fight and did take part 
in a skirmish at Lechmere Point. He was fluent In conversation, affable and 
cheerj% and was quite a favorite. Mrs. Miffiin was in delicate health, but 
that did not prevent her from being hospitable, and the house soon became 
a social centre. John Adams writes of dining there on tv/o occasions; once 
with his wife, and another time when on his way to sign the Declaration 
of Independence. He mentions so many guests, generals, friendly Indians 
and officers that one wonders where Mrs. MifHin put them all in the 
rooms that seem so small to us. 

Dr. John Morgan was appointed to take the place of Dr. Benjamin 
Church, as medical director and surgeon-general, and drove with his wife from 
Philadelphia, through the Jerseys, then over-run by the British. He collected 
what medicine he could on the way, and arrived here in November. Dr. 
Morgan and his wife were both Philadelphians, but not Quakers. They be- 
longed to St. Peter's Episcopal Church. Dr. Morgan studied at the Universi- 
ty of Edinburgh and was the founder and president of the famous medical 
school of Pennsylvania. His wife was Mary Hopkinson, sister of Francis 
Hopkinson, the sigrner. Her mother was a Johnson, of England, cousin of the 
then Bishop of "Worcester. Dr. Morgan was born in 1735, so that he was rath- 
er older than most of the officers, and had been married ten years. Neither 
the Morgans nor the Mifflins had any children. Dr. Morgan was a remarkably 
handsome man, tall and intelligent looking and did fine work here as medical 
director. Mrs. Morgan was bright and witty. Her correspondence is still 
preserved in the Hopkinson family, and to it we are indebted for glimpses 
of life in the Brattle House. Unfortunately space forbids more than short 
quotations from her pen. In a letter to her mother, dated November 29, 1775, 
after saying they slept at Watertown, she writes: 

"Six or eight of the gentlemen of the faculty cam.e to wait upon Dr. Morgan 
and escort us to the camp, some of them on horseback and some of them in 
carriages. I do assure you we had no small cavalcade. My good friend, 
Mrs. Mifflin, met us on the way in her chariot and conducted us to her house 
where we are to stay until we are settled in one of our own. • ♦ * Since 



88 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAIMBRIDGE 

I have begun this letter I have had the lionor of a; visit from four generals, 
General Washington, General Putnam, General Gates and General Lee. 
While they were here a very interesting scene happened. There arrived an 
express of a brig being taken, belonging to the enemy, by one of our vessels. 
It is a valuable prize, as it was loaded with arms and ammunition. What 
delighted us excessively was seeing the pleasure that shone in every coun- 
tenance, especially that of General Gates." 

Mrs. Morgan's sister was the wife of the famous Dr. Jacob Duohg, and in 
a letter written to Mrs. Duche she speaks of two Frenchmen, Messrs. Pennel 
and Pliarne, who had just arrived in Cambridge with a supply of powder. Dr. 
Morgan had gone with them to supper at headquarters, where they were 
treated with every mark of respect. The next day they were to go to Phila- 
delphia and would take her letter. She wrote that Dr. Morgan wished to 
introduce them to the Duches and says: "Their dress and address bespeak 
them gentlemen. We would not wish, my dear Betsy, that should you be put to 
the trouble of dining them, a dish of coffee the Countenance and Conver- 
sation of my agreeable brother is all that we desire." She then told of the 
capture of a vessel laden with West Indian goods and of her finding among 
the prisoners Mr. Burke, the lawyer who had examined into her mother's 
affairs in Antigua, who was traveling for his health. He had with him let- 
ters to the Tory gentlemen, shut up in Boston, recommending him for his 
loyalty to crown and parliament. She says the generals treated him very 
well, as he had not Intended to take part in the fighting, and he had been 
entertained by General Washington and was going to dine that night 
with the MifHins. He was wTetchedly accommodated at the tav- 
ern, and she felt so sorry for him that she meant to offer him a bed as soon 
as she had a house of her own. We do not know how long the Morgans 
remained with the Mifflins nor where else they lived in Cambridge. They were 
among the last of the military people to leave, for in a letter dated April 
9, 1776, Mrs. Morgan says the army is all gone, but they must remain because 
Dr. Morgan has to take care of the medicine captured in Boston. She finds 
it very dull and amuses herself with tambour embroidery and in visiting Dr. 
Lloyd. She begs her mother to be particularly attentive to Mrs. Washing- 
ton and Mrs. Custis when they arrive in Philadelphia; " they were to me as 
mother and sister, Mrs. Gates the same." 

And so the last of the camp passes away from Cambridge and we can 
imagine with what delight Mrs. Katherine Wendell, General Brattle's 
daughter, widow of John Mico Wendell since 1773, came to look at the house 
where she was born, now empty again. She was living on what is now 
Massachusetts avenue, near Wendell street, where she resided until her 
death, in 1821, in her ninetieth year. She was a woman of strong char- 
acter, and it was through her efforts and her friendship with the patriots 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 89 

that the Brattle property was not confiscated. Her brother, Thomas Brat- 
tle, born here in 1742 and graduated at Harvard in 1760, was in England 
when the troubles began and remained there for several years. He was 
much admired by his English friends for seeking out his fellow country- 
men, who were in prison, and relieving their necessities. Before his return 
to this country, a fine portrait of the "Man of Ross," celebrated by Pope, 
was given to him by these friends. He remained in Rhode Island until the 
popular indignation against his father had subsided, and then returned here 
and took possession of the estate. He enlarged the grounds and further 
beautified them; he built a greenhouse, one of the first in the country, and a 
bath for the students on the river. He did not marry and when he died, 
universally lamented, in ISOl, his property went to the heirs of his sister, the 
children of her daughters, Martha Fitch Wendell, who married Rev. John 
Mellen, and Katherine "Wendell, who married Rev. , Caleb Gannett in 1781 and 
lived in the Brattle House for a short time. 

After the Brattles left the house, it was let to a succession of tenants 
and passed through many hands. Timothy Fuller with his family, including 
the famous Margaret Fuller, afterwards the Countess d' Ossoli, lived here in 
1S33. From this house they moved to Groton. It was long used as a stu- 
dents' lodging house, and it is said that Thomas Gold Appleton, Francis 
Boott and John Lothrop Motley, all of the class of 1831, roomed here. 

The old house still stands, a mute reminder of the glory of its past, and 
lends its family name to one of the principal streets of our city. 

M. I. J. G. 

THE VILLAGE SMITHY. 

After the death of Thomas Brattle, his large estate was sold off by his heirs 
in small lots. Near Story street, a blacksmith. Dexter Pratt, had his work- 
shop, a low, picturesque wooden building, immortalized by the poet Longfellow 
in an early poem beginning: 

"Under a spreading chestnut tree 
The village smithy stands." 

A tablet on the sidewalk marks the spot where the horse-chestnut tree stood. 
Both tree and smithy have long since been swept away by the march of im- 
provements. A chair was made from the wood of the tree and given to Pro- 
fessor Longfellow on his seventieth birthday by the children of Cambridge and 
was the occasion of another poem. 

STORY AND GREENLEAF HOUSES. 

The large brick house, with end toward the street, that 
stands on the east corner of HiUiard street, was the home of Judge Joseph 



90 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

story, who was professor in the Harvard Law School from 1829 till 1845. 
His son, William Wetmore Story, celebrated as sculptor and author, passed 
his boyhood here. He was graduated from Harvard in 1838. A little farther 
west, still on the south side of the street, was the house built and occupied 
by Professor Simon Greenleaf, also of the law school, who was in office 
from 1834 till 1848. The house he lived in was moved to the west side of 
Ash street, where it now stands, the present house, now^ belonging to Rad- 
cliffe College, having been built by his son, James Greenleaf, who married 
Miss Mary Longfellow, the sister of the poet. 

JOHN TALCOTT, 

In the early days of Newtowne, this neighborhood was called the west end, 
and the westerly part of the Bi'attle estate was granted to John Talcott. 
The record reads: "In west end one dwelling house with garden backside 
and planting ground, about three acres and a half; the highway to Water- 
town northeast; the highway to Windmill hill northwest." John Talcott 
came with his son from Braintree, Essex Co., England, to Boston, Septem- 
ber 16, 1632, in the ship "Lion," in the company brought by Rev. Thom- 
as Hooker; and, when the Braintree company settled in Newtowne, John 
Talcott became here a man of great influence. He was one of the first board 
of selectmen, 1634-5; a deputy to tha general court in 1634; and was elected 
twice in succeeding years. He went with Hooker to Connecticut and helped 
found the city of Hartford. John Talcott held many positions of trust in 
this new colony, was a chief magistrate, member or the general court and 
treasurer of the colony until his death in 1660, when his son succeeded him. 

This son, also John Talcott, was one of the patentees named in the charter 
of Charles II, granted to Connecticut in 1661, and was concerned in hiding 
that document in the oak tree when, in 16S7, James II tried to get it back. 
He gained renown as an Indian fighter on the breaking out of King 
Philip's War. His son, Joseph Talcott, was governor of Connecticut. 

The next owner of this easterly corner of Brattle and Ash streets was Thom- 
as Brigham, constable and selectman, who came in the "Susan and Ellen" 
in 1635. He died in 1653, and his widow, Mercy (Hurd), married Edmund 
Rice, Sen., of Sudbury, in 1656, and removed to Marlborough, taking the four 
Brigham children, two sons and two daugliters, with her. After the death of 
Mr. Rice, his widow married William Hunt, of Concord, whom she survived. 
Thus the noted Brigham family of Marborough had its origin here. 

The Brigham heirs sold the estate to John Hastings in 1654, the year in 
which he removed to Cambridge from Braintree. His wife being dead, he 
married Ann, widow of John Meaue, who lived on Holmes place. His two 
sons, Walter and Samuel, married the two daughters of this second wife, 
Sarah and Mary Meane. A third son, John, who was probably born on the 




REED HOISE 




BRATTLE HOUSE 



# HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 91 

'passage to America, as he is called "Seaborn," had three wives. First, he 
married Hannah, daughter of Francis Moore; secondly, Lydia, daughter of 
Elder Champney; and lastly, in 1691, Rebecca, widow of Benoni Eaton. He 
was a tanner and the father's estate was divided between him and his brother 
Samuel, who was a gunsmith. Samuel had the part fronting on Brattle 
street and his son Stephen sold it in 1707. 

THE READ HOUSE. (B69.) 

The quaint old house, with its three massive chimneys, of which we give 
an illustration, is on the opposite, or north, side of Brattle street, at the cor- 
ner of Farwell place. It stands well back from the street and has a garden 
in front, gay with the posies that recall other days. It is now occupied by 
Dr. Stephen W. Driver, and has been in his family since 1866. The house 
is a comfortable, low-studded, two-story and attic, timber building. In the 
great chimneys are small doors opening into the fiue where hams were 
formerly hung to smoke, and in the cellar may still be seen the massive 
five-sided ridge-pole, with mortise holes for rafters and king-posts, and other 
heavy beams, probably those on which the king-posts rested. These were, 
without doubt, part of the barn that stood here in 1650, when the land be- 
longed to John Appleton, of Ipswich, who sold to Thomas Danforth in 1655. 
Danforth conveyed the property to Richard Jackson in August of the same 
year. 

Richard Jackson was selectman in 1636. He died without children in 1672, 
aged ninety, and his nephew, or grand nephew, sold the place to Captain 
Josiah Parker, who commanded the forces at Groton in 1706 wlien the Indians 
killed the men "going to meeting on the sabbath." He was selectman in 1710. 
We do not know that he lived here, but in 1725 he sold the land to James 
Read, "who came from Kent, England, and lived near the meeting house in 
1705, and who owned land opposite, on the south side of the street, afterward 
included in the Brattle estate. Probably James Read took down the old barn 
and built the present house soon after this date. He died in 1734. He had mar- 
ried Sarah Batson in 1714, and, after her death, Mary Oldham, who was the 
mother of his only child who lived, James Read, Jr., who was bom in 1723, and 
inherited the house. An inscription traced in the wet plaster over the fire- 
place in the large southwestern chamber, which reads: "James Read, May 
18, 1738," seems to indicate that the plastering of that room' was finished 
after the death of the elder Mr. Read. 

James Road, Jr., married Hannah, daughter of Rev. Joseph Stacey, of 
Kingston. Her grandfather was the blacksmith who lived at the junction 
of Brattle square and Bojiston street. They had two sons who lived, James 
Read, 3rd, who was born in 1751, and Joseph Stacey Read, bom in 1754, and 



92 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

a daughter, Sarah, who married Rev. William Fessenden. James Read, Jr., 
died in 1770. His widow and sons lived here through the Revolution. James, 
the eldest, was in Captain Thatcher's minute men and Joseph enlisted in a 
private company at that time. James had married Elizabeth Wait in 1772 
and had a son, James Read, 4th, who was a merchant, and spent some years 
in Tobago, but returned to Cambridge in 1809 and died here in 1S28. His 
father died in 1812. Joseph Stacey Read was postmaster and lived in 
Harvard square between Dunster and Boylston streets. He was the ancestor 
of the well known family of Reads of Appleton street. 

When Christ Church was built, one hundred feet square was sold from the 
northern part of the Read garden, behind the house, and in 1826 the estate 
was sold by the Reads to Levi Farwell, treasurer of Harvard College, who, 
the next year, sold it to Professor John Webster, of the Harvard Medical 
School, who lived here until 1834. He then sold to Nathan Russell, Jr., of 
Lexington, from whom it passed in 1852 to Thomas Joyce White, his son-in- 
law, who owned it until 1861. D. P. Shaw then bought it and sold to Mrs. 
Clarens, Mrs. Driver's mother, in 1866. 

Beyond this house, on the same side of Brattle street, were the Munroe 
houses. Deacon James Munroe was blacksmith here during the Revolu- 
tion. Before that, Daniel Hastings, grandson of John, the tanner, who lived 
on Ash street, was the blacksmith, living on the corner of Brattle and Mason 
streets. He sold his house to Dr. Samuel Wheat, of Needham, in 1722, and re- 
moved to Marlborough. 

H. E. McI. and M. I. J. G. 

CHAMPNEY-BRIDGE-BLOWERS-HILL HOUSE. EPISCOPAL 
THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL (B70). 

On the north side of Brattle street, corner of Mason, stands the architectually 
handsome group of buildings belonging to the Episcopal Theological School — St. 
John's Chapel, given hy Robert Means Mason, of Boston, in memory of his wife 
and brother; east of it, on Mason street, the house of the dean, given by Mrs. 
George Zabriskie Gray; and to the west the dormitories, Lawrence and Winthrop 
Halls; Reed Hall, containing librarj' and class-rooms, and Burnham Hall, the 
refectorj', all named for their respective donors.* 

Until the first of these — the chapel — was built, in 1869, a rather low two-story 
house stood on this site, facing toward Ash street. A low wall of great round, 
whitewashed, beach stones ran in front of the house, which was partly hidden 
by a high lilac hedge. The rooms were low-studded and in the middle of the last 
century, Mr. Amory says, "had painted hangings of artistic merit." The old 
fire-places were bordered by quaint purple Dutch tiles. This was the Deacon 
Aaron Hill house, at the time of the Revolution. 

♦Attention is called to the hnndred-year-old tree west of the chapel. It is a 
hybrid walnut, interesting to botanists. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 93 

The original grantee of the land was John Champney, who lived here in 1638, 
and probably his three children were born here. Mary, his daughter, married 
Theophilus Richardson, of Woburn, and was the great-grandmother of Moses 
Richardson, who was killed by the British on Massachusetts avenue, April 19, 
1775. John Champney died before 1642, and his widow married Golden Moore, 
her nearest neighbor, who lived on the northwest corner of Mason and Garden 
streets, where the Shepard Memorial church now stands. They removed to 
Billerica and the estate was sold, in 1650, to Deacon John Bridge, whose son, 
Matthew Bridge, probably lived here with his wife, Anne, daughter of Nicholas 
Danforth. 

In 1672, when Matthew Bridge, who had removed to Lexington, sold it, with 
four and a half acres of land, to Captain Pyam Blowers, Reuben, son of the un- 
fortunate James Luxford and "Sister Albone," lived here. Captain Blowers had 
maiTied Elizabeth, daughter of the first Andrew Belcher, landlord of the Blue 
Anchor Tavern and niece of Mrs. Matthew Bridge. Captain Blowers and his 
brother-in-law, Andrew Belcher, Jr., owned the ketch "Adventure" in partner- 
ship. 

Captain Blowers had nine children. Five died in infancy, and only two sur- 
vived him — Elizabeth, born in 1675, who married Rev. Thomas Symmes, of 
Bradford, in 1701, and Rev. Thomas Blowers, who graduated at Harvard in 1605, 
was ordained at Beverly and married Emma Woodbury. 

May 29, 1709, Mrs. Elizabeth Blowers died, and three days later her husband 
followed her. A quaint double head-stone in the old burying ground, as fresh as 
if erected yesterday, commemorates these who in death were not divided. 

Rev. Thomas Blowers sold the estate to Abraham Hill, mason, in 1711, who 
seven years later brought here his bride. Prudence, daughter of Nathaniel Han- 
cock, 3d, of Boylston street. The Hills had eleven children, all born here. Rev. 
Abraham Hill, the eldest son, graduated at Harvard in 1737, and was settled at 
Shutesbury in 1742. He incurred the hatred of the Sons of Liberty, and was dis- 
missed in 1778, and died a few months later, at Oxford. Elizabeth, the fifth 
daughter, married Benjamin Eustis, in 1749, and was the mother of Governor 
William Eustis, who was born in this house, June 10, 1753. Mrs. Eustis died at 
the beginning of the Revolution, May 30, 1775. December 27, 1754, Abraham Hill 
died. Mrs. Prudence Hill survived him twenty-two years, dying January 16, 1775. 

The spring before his father died Aaron, the second son, married Susanna 
Tainter, of Watertown. He followed his father's trade, as mason, was deacon 
of tlie First Church for twenty years before his death, and was a prominent man. 
He was selectman during the troublous time of the Revolution, and he it was 
who was appointed at the March town meeting, in 1776, to attend upon General 
Washington, to ask him what lands he would like for the use of the camp during 
the ensuing year, never dreaming that within a fortnight the ai'my would enter 
Boston and never return to Cambridge. Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Hill both died in 



94 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

October, 1792, of the dreaded small-pox. William, their younger son, who grad- 
uated at Harvard in 1788, died at Tobago in 1790, so the house came into the 
possession of the only surviving son. Dr. Aaron Hill, Jr., who entered the con- 
tinental army on graduating from Harvard in 1776. He served a year and a 
half, and then studied medicine under Dr. Joshua Brackett, of Portsmouth, N. H. 
: — went to sea as a surgeon and was twice taken prisoner. He married Hannah, 
daughter of Samuel Quincy, the refugee solicitor-general, later became a mer- 
chant in Portsmouth, but on the death of his parents returned here to live. He 
was selectman, town clerk, representative, senator and member of the council. 
In 1808 he was appointed postmaster of Boston, and held that office for about 
twenty years, after which he returned to Cambridge and resided here until his 
death. 

Dr. Aaron Hill died in 1830, and his widow in 1839, leaving a son, William, and 
several daughters. His son, Thomas, a merchant, died at sea in 1813, while on 
a voyage for his health, leaving an only child, Mary Timmins Quincy Hill. Two 
of Dr. Hill's daughters married Wlllard Phillips— Hannah Brackett, in 1833, who 
died 1837, and Harriet, her older sister, in 1838. Another daughter, Susanna, 
married John P. Todd, paymaster in the navy, and lived until 1869, when she 
died, childless. 

Professor Joseph Winlook took the house in July, 1858, when he came here to 
edit the "Nautical Almanac." He lived here one year and here his daughter, 
also distinguished as an astronomer, the late Miss Anna Winlock, was born. 

ASH STREET. 

Ash street, already mentioned as the western boundary of the Brattle estate, 
leads to the river. It was early called Windmill lane and, after the Revolution, 
when Thomas Brattle built the bath-house for the students, it was re-named 
Bath lane. "The King's Highway" (now Brattle street), from this point to 
Elmwood was, before the Revolution, called Church or Tory row. 

ADAMS-BANCROFT-REMINGTON-BELCHER-FRIZELL-VASSALL 
HOUSE, MEDICAL HEADQUARTERS (B71). 

For about a century (1750 to 1850) there was only one house on the south side 
of the highway, between Ash street and Elmwood, a distance of three-quarters 
of a mile. This house has been called the Vassall House since 1736. It is still 
standing on the easterly corner of Brattle and Hawthorn streets. The western 
end of the house is very old, as is shown by the eight-foot square stack chimney, 
the bricks of which are laid with pounded oyster shells instead of lime. It may 
have been built by William Adams, to whom this homestead lot was granted 
March 12, 1635. He early removed to Ipswich and his lands were bought by 
Nathaniel Sparhawk, a dealer in real estate, who sold this house and half an 
acre of land, in 1639, to Roger Bancroft. Bancroft lived here until his death iu 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 95 

1653. His widow married successively Martin Saunders of Braintree, 1654, 
Deacon Jolin Bridge of Cambridge, 1658, and Edward Taylor of Boston. 

At the time of the Revolution the Vassall estate comprised eight acres, the 
land of five early settlers having been taken to make the garden and pasture. 
In the time of William Adams, the acre lot east of his land was occupied by 
Robert Parker and Judith, his wife. Parker was a butcher and gave a cow for 
the tuition of his son, John, who graduated at Harvard in 1661. He sold his 
house to Roger Bancroft in 1649. 

Next east of this house was the homestead of William Wilcox, who in 1646 sold 
his home to Samuel Green, the famous printer, and died in 1653, leaving a legacy 
of "twenty shillings to my loving brethren that were of my family meeting, viz: 
Roger Bancroft, John Hastings, Thomas Fox, William Patten and Francis 
Whitmore." 

Bartholomew Green, the father of Samuel, had lived in the next house, at the 
westerly corner of Brattle and Ash streets, until his death in 1638, and his 
wife, "Widow Elizabeth Green," continued to live there until her death in 1677. 
In 1684 Richard Eccles owned the corner house and land, and later it belonged 
to Samuel Bull. Ebenezer Wyeth owned this estate when he sold it to John 
Vassall, Senior, in 1741, who sold it to his brother, Henry, in 1747 and it then 
became part of the Vassall garden. 

The land south of these four lots, toward the river, had been granted to John 
Masters (who built the canal for Lieut.-Governor Dudley), and was inherited by 
his daughter, Elizabeth, who married Gary Latham. The Lathams removed to 
New London and sold to Thomas Crosby, in 1645, who, the same year conveyed 
this land to Roger Bancroft. The homestead on the west corner of Brattle and 
Hawthorn streets belonged to Reuben Luxford, son of James, whose daughter 
Margaret married John Pattin or Patten. Their son, Luxford Patten, married 
Rebecca Robbins in 1727, and died before 1730. His widow sold the house and 
an acre and a half of land to Col. John Vassall, Senior, who gave it to his 
brother, Henry Vassall, in 1746. 

Thus by 1747, all the land now bounded by Longfellow Park, Brattle, Ash and 
Mount Auburn streets, belonged to Henry Vassall. It is thought that in this 
year he built the brick wall on Brattle and Ash streets, which when Brattle 
street was widened, in 1870, was moved back thirty feet, and one hundred of 
the tall acacia trees, that had been the Vassall hedge, were cut down. This 
wall, which was a landmark, was surmounted by a coping formed of heavy 
boards like an inverted V, which when the wall was rebuilt was replaced by the 
present granite coping. The garden which is south of the house was stocked 
with fine fruit trees, brought from England and France, of which only the 
ancient purple mulberry, still bearing fruit, is now to be seen. Of the hawthorn 
hedge, that once bordered the west side of the present Hawthorn street, no 
trace remains. 



96 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

This estate, containing eight acres of land, was left by Thomas Marrett to his 
son John in 1G64, when it was valued at fifty pounds. John sold the house, with 
five acres of land, to Jonathan Remington in 1665. Mr. Remington had married 
Martha, daughter of the first Andrew Belcher, in 1664, and probably in this 
house all his nine children were born. His son, Jonathan, Jr., was Judge of tlie 
Supreme Court, and one of the most noted men of his time. The elder Jonathan 
Remington served in King Philip's War, was selectman and town clerk for four 
years between 1693 and 1700. He died April 21, 1700. In 1682, Jonathan Rem- 
ington, Senior, conveyed this estate to his wife's brother, Andrew Belcher, for 
one hundred and thirty pounds. Mr. Belcher lived here until his death in 1717, 
leaving the house to his son Jonathan (governor of Massachusetts and New 
Jersey under the king), who married Mary, daughter of Lieut.-Governor William 
Partridge of New Hampshire. In 1719, Governor Belcher sold the estate to 
John Frizell, a merchant of the North End, Boston, for two hundred and twenty 
pounds. 

The Frizells lived here until 1736, when Mercy, widow of John Frizell, con- 
veyed the estate to John Vassall, Senior, for one thousand pounds. This seems 
a sudden increase in value, but while the estate had been in possession of the 
Frizells, an ounce of silver had risen in value from twelve to twenty-seven 
shillings. 

Colonel John Vassall, third child of Major Leonard Yassall, was born in the 
West Indies in 1713, graduated from Harvard, in 1732, and, in 1734, married 
Elizabeth Phips, daughter of Lieut.-Governor Spencer Phips, of Bow street. 
Here their three children were born, Ruth, in 1737, who married Edward Davis, 
of Boston, and died January 23, 1774; John, born in 1738, and Elizabeth, born 
September 12, 1739, who married Thomas Oliver. Ten days after the birth of this 
child Mrs. John Vassall died. 

In 1741, John Vassall, Senior, sold this estate to his brother. Colonel Henry 
Vassall, who, January 28, 1742, married Penelope Royall, of Medford, and brought 
her to this house. Two children were born here, Elizabeth, in 1742 (later the 
wife of Dr. Charles Russell, of Lincoln) and Penelope, who died young. Col. 
Henry Vassall represented Cambridge in the General Court in 1752, and 1756, 
and died March 17, 1769. His widow continued to live here until Cambridge 
became the headquarters of the Continental army, when .she removed hastily 
to Boston. From there she sailed, with her daughter, Mrs. Russell, to Antigua, 
where she liad estates. Just before sailing Madam Vassall petitioned the Pro- 
vincial Congress, then sitting at Watertown, that she might be allowed to take 
with her some of her effects. Congress permitted her to take anything that she 
wanted except "provisions and her medicine chest." The estate was not con- 
fiscated, as it belonged to a widow who had taken no active part against the 
patriots. 

We learn from the records of the Provincial Congress that, at this time, the 




VASSALL HOUSE — Medical Headquarters — East Entby. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 97 

Continentals had only two medicine chests, one in Roxbury and the other at the 
house of Madame Vassall. From these two all the regimental surgeons had to 
supply their needs. The fact that the medicines were here, and that there were 
twenty available rooms, besides halls and out-houses, may have been the reason 
that this house became the medical headquarters.* 

Dr. Isaac Foster of Charlestowu (1) (great-grandson of William Foster, who, 
captured by thel Turks as he was going to Bilboa with fish, in 1671, was set 
free through the prayers of Rev. John Eliot) was born in Charlestowu, in 1740, 
graduated at Harvard in 1758, and studied medicine with Dr. James Lloyd of 
Boston and, later, in England. He was a delegate to the Middlesex Convention, 
August, 1774, and member of the First Provincial Congress of Massachusetts^ 
October, 1774. After the battle of Concord he gave up a large practice and came 
here to attend the wounded. It is thought that he and Dr. Chui-ch lived in this 
house. 

To the patriot army in Cambridge and especially to his brother surgeons came 
a great blow when it was discovered, October 3, 1775, that Surgeon-General 
Benjamin Church, one of the medical staff quartered here and a trusted member 
of the Committee of Safety, was holding traitorous correspondence with the 
enemy in Boston. He was imprisoned in this house, whei'e on a door in a room 
on the second floor (middle window in the illustration) may still be read, cut with 
a penknife, "B. Church, Jr.;" from this house he was taken, October 27, in a 
chaise, to the music of a fife and drum playing "The Rogue's March," under 
escort of General Gates, to Watertown Meeting-house, where he was tried 
before the Provincial Congress, of which he was a member, and condemned to 
imprisonment in Connecticut, "without pen and paper." This was later com- 

*The Second Provincial Congress, at the instance of the Committee of 
Safety, May 8, 1775, created a committee to^ examine surgeons for the army. 
This was the first examination of the kind in America. Dr. James Thacher, a 
surgeon's mate at this time, in his Military Journal under date, July 17, 1775, 
records that these examinations were very severe and that sixteen candidates 
presented themselves before the committee. The committee pro tempore, con- 
sisted of Dr. Benjamin Church and Doctors Taylor, Holten and Diusmore. On 
June 2, Doctors Whiting and Bayliss were added, and on June 16, Doctors Hall 
and Jones. June 22, Dr. Francis Kittredge was appointed to attend the hos- 
pital, and on the twenty-seventh of the same month Doctors Rand and Foster 
were added to the staff. July 4, 1775, Joseph Hunt was appointed mate to Dr. 
Joseph Foster, in Cambridge hospital. There were to be two surgeons and two 
mates in each hospital. July 7, Dr. Isaac Foster was commissioned "Surgeon 
of the hospital at Cambridge," and July 27, Surgeon-General Benjamin Church 
was unanimously elected director and physician of the hospital. 

(1) "A Bundle of Old Letters," Atlantic Monthly, May, 1859, gives letters 
of Dr. Isaac Foster from June, 1776, until December, 1779, written while with 
the army. In a letter written October, 1775, by John Warren to John Hancock 
we read that there were four hospitals in Cambridge, and learn from another 
source that they were named Washington, Putnam and Lee, the fourth being 
called the Convalescent Hospital. Drake says the Phips House was Hospital 
No. 2, with Surgeon Dinsmore in charge, but who were the directors of the other 
hospitals we do not know, 

7 



98 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

muted to banishment, but the vessel in which he sailed for the West Indies never 
having been heard from, he was without doubt lost at sea. 

Dr. Isaac Foster expected to succeed Church, but instead Dr. John Morgan, 
the first President of the Medical School of Pennsjlvania, was made Surgeon- 
General and Medical Director. He has already been spoken of in connection 
with the Brattle house. If he did not live in the Vassall house there is little 
doubt but that his ofSce was there. 

After the army left Cambridge the Vassall house was uninhabited, but may 
have been used as quarters for some of Burgoyne's officers. There is a tradition 
that after a lively dinner a slave boy was pricked to death by the swords of 
British officers. Mrs. Vassall returned after the war was over, and claimed her 
house. She did not reside here again, but sold her rights to Nathaniel Tracy, 
of Newburyport, who lived in the Craigie house, across the street. At that time 
Fred Geyer, father-in-law of Andrew, grandson and only male representative 
of Governor Jonathan Belcher, lived here. 
V/ In 1792 Andrew Craigie bought the estate and his brother-in-law, Bossinger 
Foster, lived here. Richard H. Dana, Senior, lived here for several years after 
he gave up the practice of law. After the death of Bossinger Foster the estate 
came to his daughter, Elizabeth, wife of Judge Samuel B. Haven, who sold it 
to Samuel Batchelder, Senior, in 1841. The wife of the new proprietor was a 
direct descendant of William Adams, the first owner of this land. The house is 
still in possession of the Batchelder family. Mr. Batchelder repaired the house 
and raised the main building, placing granite foundations under it. A fire 
occurred just before he took possession and burned the roof of the eastern end 
and the five dormer windows that had been there were not replaced. A few 
years ago two dormer windows were built in that roof toward the southern side. 

The illustration is from a photograph taken in 1879, soon after the death of Mr. 
Batchelder, which occurred in his ninety-fifth year. It will be seen that the 
plan of the house is entirely different from any other Colonial house in Cam- 
bridge, and it is evident that additions have been made at various periods. A 
large kitchen, well room and great shed, paved with hexagonal blocks, hewn 
from the trunks of trees, stretched to the south. The last two additions to the 
house have been taken away. 

Instead of having a hallway running through the house, as was the usual 
fashion, there werQ two halls, an eastern and western, the eastern having a 
much more ornate stairway, in the style of 1740-60. The western end of the 
house, the oldest portion— had a hall, with a room on either side. That on right 
was the kitchen, with the stack chimney already referred to. In 1842, the 
weatherbeaten clapboards were found, showing that the chimney once stood 
OTitside of the house. A large room running north and south crossed the halls 
and ended toward the river in a round bay, which was divided from the room 
by a heavy cornice-like beam supported by two Doric pillars. From the bay 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 99 

three long windows opened into the conservatory. This arrangement was the 
same in the second story, the two halls being separated by the room where the 
name of Church is carved on the door. On the ground floor were twenty- 
two windows and seven doors. Three staircases led from the ground floor to the 
second story, and two from that to the third floor. 

The house is built of heavy oak timbers filled in with bricks. The room on the 
left of the west entrance was originally two small rooms. The inner one had a 
sliding panel that communicated with the cellar, affording a way of escape if 
necessary; the outer room was the butler's pantry and from the western window 
the stirrup-cup was offered to departing guests. This window opened on to the 
wide court paved with round cobble stones, that led to the great stable. This 
is now Hawthorn street. The stable faced Brattle street and stood near the 
present Acacia street. At right angles with it was the carriage house where 
Madame Vassall kept her chaise and chariot. The house has been altered 
more in the interior than externally, and there now remains not more land around 
it than the acre that was originally granted to William Adams. 



John Fiske, the historian, to whom all Americans are so deeply indebted, had 
his first Cambridge home in the Vassall garden, on Acacia street. Later he 
built a house on part of the Vassall-Craigie estate at the southerly corner of 
Berkeley street and Berkeley place. At the time of his death he was enlarging 
the house of his mother, Mrs. Stoughton, for occupancy. Here his library waS 
placed and it is now occupied by his family. This stands also in the Vassall 
garden at the west corner of Brattle and Ash streets, on the site of the Samuel 
Bull house. jf I J Q 

JOHN VASSALL, JK.-CRAIGIE-LONGFELLOW HOUSE-WASHINGTON 
HEADQUARTERS. (B72.) 

Once, ah, once, within these walls, 
One whom memory oft recalls. 
The Father of his Country, dwelt. 
And yonder meadows broad and damp 
The fires of the besieging camp 
Encircled with a burning belt. 
Up and down these echoing stairs. 
Heavy with the weight of cares. 
Sounded his majestic tread; 
Yes, within this very room 
Sat he in those hours of gloom, 
"Weai'y both in heart and head. 

HENRY W. LONGFELLOW. 

In the middle of the eighteenth century, Cambridge was 

a favorite resort for the wealthy Royalists. They built 
large, stately houses, surrounded by gardens and pleasure grounds. Among 

LOFC. 



100 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

these, one of the largest was built in 1759, by John Vassall, soon after hia 
graduation from Harvard College. 

The Vassall family was originally of French stock, the Du Vassalls, Barons 
de Guerden, in Querci, Perigord. John, the father of John Vassall, was 
born in the West Indies, in 1713, and came to America in his childhood. He 
graduated from Harvard College in 1732 and married Elizabeth, daughter of 
Lieutenant-Governor Spencer Phips, an important man in the community. 
One of John Vassall's sisters married Mr. Ruggles and lived in the Ruggles- 
Fayerweather house; another sister was Mrs. John Borland, who lived in the 
Apthorp House. 

One 0(f Mrs. John Vassall's sisters w'as Mrs. Lechmere, who lived in the 
house where th,e Baroness von Riedesel was imprisoned, and another sister 
was Mrs. Joseph Lee, who lived in the next house further up the road. 
Mrs. Vassall died in the house on the corner of Brattle and Hawthorn 
streets, when her son, John, was little more than a year old, and was 
buried in the old burying-ground in Harvard square, where her brown sand- 
stone tomb, with the family arms on the slab, is a familiar object. After 
her death, her husband married again, and built a house on the bank of 
the river, southeast of Elmwood, where he died in 1747, when John was only 
nine years old. The grandfather, Lieutenant-Governor Spencer Phips, be- 
came guardian to the boy. A receipt for the personal property of John 
Vassall, the elder, given by Mr. Benjamin Ellery, the second husband of 
Mrs. Vassall, is to be found in Paige's History of Cambridge and gives a 
picture of the fashions of that time. 

Lieutenant-Governor Phips died in 1757 and his grandson, John Vassall, in- 
herited a part of his large estate, and, evidently iu anticipation of his mar- 
riage, which took place in 1761, built the house later known as the Craigia 
House. An iron chimney-back, dated 1759, undoubtedly indicates the year in 
which tlio house was built. John Vassall's wife was Elizabeth, daughter of 
Robert Oliver, and sister of Lieutenant-Governor Oliver, who lived at Elm- 
wood, and who, just a year before, had married John Vassall's sister Elizabeth. 

Young Vassall became a good citizeri of Cambridge and interested himself 
in public affairs. He served on a oommittee with eight others "to chuse 
a grammar school-master for said town of Cambridge and to regulate said 
school." He was also warden of Christ Church and a member of the building 
commitee; and, as the money was slow in forthcoming, he finally paid th3 
whole cost of the land on which the church stands. 

Seven children were born to John Vassall in his Cambridge home, and for 
fifteen years he lived there in comfort. In the pleasant society of his friends 
and relatives. He was, however, an ardent Loyalist, and the community 
became roused against him, his house was surrounded by a mob, and In 1774 
he was obliged to take refuge in Boston. From there he went with the 




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Of 
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HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 101 

British army to Halifax and later to England, where he died at Clifton, in 
1797. He was exiled and his estates were confiscated by the act of the Con- 
tinental Congress in 1778. 

At the breaking out of the Revolutionary War, the committee of safety took 
possession of the unoccupied Loyalist houses, using them for hospitals and 
the accommodation of troops. A company from Marblehead, commanded by 
Colonel John Glover, was quartered in the John Vassall house for several 
weeks. 

On July 2, 1775, General Washington entered Cambridge, coming down the 
Watertown road, and on the next day took command of the continental forces. 
The house of the president of Harvard College — Wadsworth House — was first 
assigned as headquarters to General Washington and General Lee. This 
arrangement, however, did not prove satisfactory, and on July Sth the com- 
mittee of safety directed "that the house of Mr. John Vassall, ordered by 
Congress for the residence of his Excellency, General Washington, should be 
immediately put in such condition as may make it convenient for that purpose." 

The following entry in Washington's account book shows the date of his 
taking possession: "July 15th, 1775, paid for cleaning the house which was 
provided for my occupation and which was occupied by the Marblehead regi- 
ment two pounds ten shillings and ninepence." General Washington's letters 
written from headquarters show that his life in Cambridge was far from 
being a happy one. Jealousies and difficulties arose with the untrained troops, 
and constant harassment, from lack of good assistance from his military fam- 
ily and secretaries. 

When he saw that a winter in camp was before him, he sent for Mrs. Wash- 
ington to join him at headquarters. She was escorted from Virginia by her 
son, John Parke Custis, and his wife and Washington's nephew, George 
Lewis. Mrs. Washington made the journey from Mount Vernon in a chariot 
with four horses, with black postillions in scarlet and white livery, a style 
that prevailed in Virginia at that time. She arrived on December 11th, 1775. 
Fi'om Virginia also came Edmund Randolph, as master oif ceremonies in 
connection with the social life at headquarters. Washington thought any 
festivities out of place at such a serious moment, and frowned on games of 
cards and other frivolities. Mrs. Washington, however, persuaded him to cele- 
brate the anniversary of their wedding on January 6th, with a Twelfth 
Night party. 

After the evacuation of Boston, March 17th, 1776, General Washington left 
headquarters, and the house was unoccupied until it was bought, in 1781, by 
Nathaniel Tracy, of Newburyport. He was a man of great wealth and 
public spirit, and loanjed large amounts to the government during the war. 
He was a ship-owner and fitted out a fleet of privateers. It was said that 
he owned so many estates that he could travel from Newburyport to Phil- 



102 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

adelphia, and sleep every night in his own house. While living here, he gave a 
banquet to Admiral d'Estaing, and, wishing to do full honor to his French 
guests, served them with the celebrated frog soup, which caused some amaze- 
ment, as each man found a full sized frog in his plate. Unfortunately, Tracy's 
fortune soon dwindled, through losses at sea and the failure of the gov- 
ernment to repay his loans; he became a bankrupt and the Vassall house 
was sold to Mr. Thomas Russell, a wealthy merchant of Boston. 

In 1793, it was purchased by Dr. Andrew Craigie, who occupied it for twenty- 
six years. Andrew' Craigie had served as apotliecary-general during the Rev- 
olutionary War and had made a large fortune by successful speculation. He 
was a sharp business man and in constant warfare through his land specula- 
tions. He bought the Lech mere property in East Cambridge, with the agree- 
ment to build a bridge across the river, and opened a new road (Cambridge 
street) connecting the old Watertown road with this bridge. He enlarged the 
house by adding an ell at the back and gave lavish entertainments here. 
He married Miss Elizabeth Shaw, daughter of the Reverend Bezaleel Shaw, 
of Nantucket. Miss Shaw was young, beautiful and had remarkable mental 
powers. Dr. Craigie was much older than his bride and entirely immersed 
in business speculations, and the marriage was far from happy, although she 
"was surrounded by every luxury. 

Dr. Craigrie's affairs did not always prosper, and he finally became a bank- 
rupt and was unable to leave the house, except on Sundays, for fear of 
arrest. He died suddenly, of apoplexy, in 1819, and was buried in the old tomb 
of the Vassall family, which he had bought with the house. The estate was 
much encumbered and Mrs. Craigie, desiring to clear it from debt, reduced 
her establishment from twelve servants to two, with whom she lived in the 
back part of the house, renting all the large rooms in the main house. Hon. 
Edward Everett brought his bride to the house in 1822, occupying one-half 
of it, while Mr. Willard Phillips lived in the other half. 

Ten years later, Mr. Jared Sparks took the rooms om the westerly sid;e. 
This was the year after his marriage, and he records in his journal: "While I 
resided at Mrs. Cralgie's, the same house occupied by General Washington 
as his headquarters, I was busily employed in preparing for the press, the 
Identical letters which Washingrton had written there." Rev. Dr. Bellows had 
rooms In the house, while in the divinity school, and it was a favorite abode of 
law students. 

In 1837, Mr. Longfellow came to Cambridge as professor in Harvard Col- 
lege, and the following year, being delighted with the appearance of the old 
house, applied to Mrs. Craigie for rooms. "Young man," she said, "I do not 
take undergraduates." "But I am not a student," he said, "I am a professor," 
and, after some argument, he was allowed to take rooms in the house which 
became his home for life. Mr. Longfellow occupied two rooms on the 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 103 

second floor on the easterly side of the house. Mr. Lowell, Professor Agassiz, 
Professor Felton and Mr. Charles Sumner were intimate friends and constant 
sharers in the simple and genial hospitality which the college circle enjoyed 
in those days. 

In May, 1841, Mrs. Craigie died. She had lived alone and was burled alone, in 
''^ Mount Auburn. Her monument, typical of her philosophical mind, is a 
Grecian altar surmounted by a flame, with no name — only some lines from 
Voltaire, of whom she was a great admirer — "As flame ascends, the vital 
principle aspires to God." Mrs. Craigie was looked on askance by the neigh- 
bors because she kept soi much aloof and was a great reader of French liter- 
ature. Little children peeped fearfully through the fence for a glimpse of the 
wicked old woman and her wicked statues on the island, in the pond. Her 
favorite seat was near one of the front windows, where she looked out through 
the double row of elm trees between the house and the street; and watched 
their slow destruction by canker-worms, refusing- to have them molested, say- 
ing: "Do not injure them; they are our fellow-worms." 

After Mrs. Craigle's death, j\Ir. Joseph Worcester, the lexicographer, and his 
bride rented the house and allowed Mr. Longfellow to retain his rooms. In 
1843, Mr. Longfellow married Miss Frances Appleton, of Boston, and her 
father, Mr. Nathan Appleton, bought the old house and presented it to his 
daughter. Mrs. Longfellow shared her husband's literary and social interests 
and the house soon became the centre, not only for scholars connected with 
the college, but for travelers from Europe. Mr. Longfellow was extremely 
interested in preserving- the old character of the house and no change has 
been made in it since the additions built by Mr. Craigie in 1793. 

The original Vassall estate comprised one hundred and fifty acres and in 
\r Mr. Craigle"s time, even, the hill now occupied by the observatory was part of 
the garden. On that hill was a spring- from which water was carried to the 
house by a small aqueduct. The land was gradually disposed of by the 
different owners of the place until at the time of Mr. Longfellow's occupation 
there remained but eight acres. The pond was west of the house and when 
the Longfellows took possession of the house and grounds around it, Mr. 
Worcester bought the land west of the pond and built, in 1844, the house still 
standing there. No. 121 Brattle street. Here Mr. Worcester finished his great 
work, the unabridged English dictionary. Joseph Emerson Worcester, Tale, 
1811, was born in Bradford, N. H., in 1784, lived in Hollis, N. H., taught in 
Salem, removed to Cambridge in 1819, and married, in 1841, Amy Elizabeth Mc- 
Kean, daughter of Professor Joseph McKean. He died October 27, 1865, with- 
out issue. 

Six children were bom to Mr. Longfellow in the old house, and, three years 
before his death, his first grand-child was born here. Mr. Longfellow died in 
1882, and the estate still remains in the possession of his family. 



104 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

The house built by John Vassall was on the same plan as most of the co- 
lonial houses — a broad hall through the centre of the house, from front 
to back, and two square rooms on each side of this. The hall and rooms 
have a hig-h paneled wainscot and in every room, one side is entirely paneled 
in wood. All the woodwork is paintt^d white. There are two staircases whit,- 
meet on a landing, where there is an arched window between the front ana 
back halls, and the stairs again divide to the front and back. The rooms on 
the second floor correspond with those below. 

When the house was used as headquarters, the room on the left of the en- 
trance was used as Mrs. "Washington's drawing-room, and the one on the 
right was General Washington's office. A passage separated this from tlie 
room used by the military family, and behind the drawing-room was the 
dining-room. Dr. Cralgie enlarged the northeast room for a banqueting hall 
and paneled it entirely in white. He also added a hall and ell at the back of the 
house. Large, commodious and stately, this house is the finest specimen of 

colonial architecture iu Cambridge. 

A. M. L. 

JUSTIN WINSOR. 

At 74 Sparks street, on land once a part of the John Vassall estate, Justin 
Winsor made his home in the latter part of his life. He was born in Boston, 
January 2, 1831; he entered Harvard in the class of 1853, and later studied in 
Paris and at Heidelberg. In 1855, he married (Miss) Caroline T. Barker. From 
1865 to 1877 he was superintendent of the Boston Public Library and the rest of 
his life librarian of Harvard College. He died at Cambridge in 1897. 

His first historical work was "The History of Duxbury, Mass.," publislied in 
1849. This was followed by many others, including valuable additions to the 
bibliographical and Ciirtograpliical literature of our country. Among his books 
are "A Memorial History of Boston," edited by him in 1881; and "A Narrative 
and Critical History of America," published 1884-1889. 



CHARLES DEANE. 

Charles Deane, LL. D., authority on New England, especially Pilgrim, history, 
was long a resident of Cambridge. Born at Biddeford, Maine, November 10, 
1813, and educated in his native state, in 1833, he found employment with Water- 
ston. Pray & Company, of Boston. 

He became a member of the firm, and in 1841 married his partner's daughter, 
Helen Waterston. In 1864, when senior partner, he retired from business. Soon 
after his marriage he had come to Cambridge, where he resided at 80 Sparks 
street until his death on November 13, 1889. 

Harvard and Bowdoin Colleges conferred many honors upon him. He dated 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 105 

his love of history from the summer of 1843. In 1855 he was instrumental in 
finding the original "History of the Plymouth Plantation" by Governor Bradford. 
Six children survive him, nearly all of whom live in or near the old home in 
Cambridge. 

LECHMERE-SEWALL HOUSE— PRISON OF THE VON RIEDESELS- 
"ENGLISH" THOMAS LEE (B73). 

In our somewhat dreary picture of Tory Row, taken about 1860, in winter, is 
seen a large house with an ample barn standing under the leafless elm trees; and 
on another page will be found a front view of the same house as it looked 
in Revolutionary days. This house was built by Richard Lechmere, son of 
Thomas (the brother of Lord Nichols Lechmere, an eminent lawyer), who died in 
1727. Drake calls Richard Lechmere "a rich distiller of Boston." His father 
came to this country before 1722 and married a daughter of Wait Winthrop. 
Richard Lechmere married Mary, tenth child of Lieutenant-Governor Spencer 
Phips; they were published March 1, 1754, and it was, no doubt, to be near her 
sister, who married Judge Joseph Lee the next year that, in 1762, Mr. Lechmere 
built this house. 

They did not live here many years, for the house was sold before 1774 to Jon- 
athan Sewall, last attorney-general under the crown. 

He was a nephew of Chief Justice Stephen Sewall, and, left a destitute orphan, 
w^as taken by Chambers Russell, of Lincoln, to his farm and sent by him to 
Hai-vard, where he graduated in 1748. He was admitted to the bar and practiced 
in Charlestown. At that time he was a Whig, but Governor Hutchinson tried to 
make a Tory of him, and, as no office was vacant he created one, making him 
solicitor-general, June 24, 1767. The year before this he had married Esther, 
daughter of Edmund Quincy, grand-daughter of Judge Quincy, and sister of 
Madame John Hancock. When Judge Trowbridge left the office vacant Sewall 
was made attorney-general and also advocate-general of the courts of admiralty; 
and in 1769 judge of admiralty of Nova Scotia. He did not go to that province 
to live, but sailed to Halifax and appointed deputy judges, returning on the 
same vessel to Boston. "He was a successful advocate and able counsellor. He 
had a soft, smooth, insinuating eloquence, which glided into the minds of a jury 
and gave him as much power over that tribunal as any lawyer ought ever to 
possess," says one who knew him. He was the bosom friend of John Adams, 
until political differences separated them. A famous slave suit brought by Sewall 
against Lechmere was the beginning of the abolition of slavery in Massachusetts. 

At the beginning of the troubles, September 1, 1774, this house was surrounded 
by a mob of boys and negroes, who, provoked by a gun fired from a window, 
broke glass, but did no more mischief. Judge Sewall, however, thought best to 
depart. He was a staunch loyalist and died at St. John, New Brunswick, in 1796. 
The estate, consisting of forty-four acres, was confiscated and rented by the 



106 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

committee of correspondence for £26, 13s. 4p. November, 1778, saw a sad pro- 
cession of tired, disheartened, muddy soldiers passing the house. They were the 
convention prisoners, taljen at Saratoga, the English commanded by General 
Burgoyne, the German allies by the Baron von Riedesel. With them, in a 
"calache," covered with oiled cloth to keep out the wet, rode the Baroness von 
Riedesd and her three little daughters, the youngest a babe in arms; Lena, her 
German maid, and Rockel, a Tyrolean man servant. 

Quartered first in the Judah Monis House, on Boylston street, and in the filthy 
barracks on Winter Hill, the Riedesels rejoiced when their captors finally settled 
them in the sumptuous home of the absentee attorney-general. Baron von 
Riedesel was fond of gardening and out-of-door life, and, no doubt, solaced him- 
self with caring for the neglected gi-ounds and garden. One is tempted to quote 
largely from the memoirs of the Baroness von Riedesel, but it is better that the 
reader should peruse for himself the vivacious account of Revolutionary days left 
by this remarkable woman, who shared all her husband's privations and his 
year's imprisonment in Cambridge and later, in the south, where, in 1779, the 
convention prisoners were sent, on account of the great dearth of provisions in 
this neighborhood. 

The baroness enjoyed her stay on Tory Row. She liked to listen to the ac- 
counts of the grand doings when the Vassalls, and Lees, the Lechmere, Oliver 
and Phips families gave entertainments every afternoon, and nothing was 
thought of except music, dancing and diversion, before the war came and sep- 
arated them. The baroness gave here a dinner on the king's birthday, at which 
the health of His Majesty, George the Third, was duly drunk. She says the 
populace with links surrounded the house, but no harm was done. On another 
occasion, she speaks of barefooted men running past the house all day, on the 
rumor of a landing of the British, but most of her days here were peaceful. 
General Burgoyne, who was living in the Apthorp house, seems to have treated 
the wife of his ally with scant courtesy, but when about to leave called here and 
apologized to her, but the baroness begged him not to put himself out on her 
account. She wrote her name with a diamond on a window pane, that was long 
cherished as a memorial of the gay young prisoner. 

After the prisoners were gone, the house was granted to Thomas Lee, of Pom- 
fret, Connecticut, to repay him for a ship laden with merchandise that had been 
captured by the Continentals, and once again gay times came to the fine mansion. 

Thomas Lee * was born in Taunton, England, and came to this country as a 
young man; he became partner with Coffin Jones, a leading merchant of Boston, 
accumulated a fortune, and married Jane Miller. At the beginning of the 
troublous times, he rather sided with the patriots, and went to live at Norwich, 



*See ^femolr of Benjamin I.oe, privately printed by his son. Right Reverend 
Alfred Lee. 




Pi 
O 

w 

o 
p 

o 

02 

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HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 107 

later at Pomfret, Connecticut, where he led the life of an English squire, hunt- 
ing with trained hounds. After 1779 Lee spent the remainder of his days in 
this pleasant mansion, enjoying an ample fortune. Dignified and affable in man- 
ner, his high standing and free hospitality attracted to the house the best society 
of Boston and vicinity. This dwelling was handsomely furnished and contained 
a good library and philosophical apparatus. In the stables were fine imported 
horses and when, on tlie occasion of some religious assembly, he visited Phila- 
delphia, President Willard, of Harvard College, accompanied him, in his coach 
and four. Thomas Lee was a member of Dr. Holmes' church. Of the sincerity 
of his piety he gave evidence by open-handed benevolence and an unspotted life. 
His portrait, supposed to be by Copley, presents an open, benignant countenance. 
A benefactor to Harvard, his name was placed over one of the alcoves in the 
college library. He died May 26, 1787, and is buried in the old burying ground, 
an iron railing surrounding* his altar tomb. He was called "English Thomas" to 
distinguish him from his next-door neighbor of the same name. He left his 
entire fortune to his wife, after providing for his sister Hannah, and £100 to Dr. 
Holmes, with the request that she would "make such presents as she should think 
proper to his brother Benjamin." He had no children. 

Mrs. Thomas Lee was very eccentric. She hoarded gold, which she hid in 
cellar and cupboard, and wandered at night, like a restless spirit visiting her 
treasures. Her figure clothed in white seen through the windows at late hours 
suggested ghost stories. Some persons, who wished to obtain Mrs. Lee's money, 
induced her to sign a will in their favor. Her neighbor, Elbridge Gerry, visiting 
her in her last illness, read the will to her, at her request, and she at once re- 
voked it. Her husband's nephew, Thomas Lee, son of Benjamin and Elizabeth 
(Leigh ton) Lee, became heir to the large fortune at her death in 1807. 

Benjamin Lee came then to live in the mansion, with the heir, his son, born in 
Medford in 1798; six children were born here, the second being Right Reverend 
Alfred Lee, Bishop of Delaware, who was bom September 9, 1807. Benjamin Lee 
had been in the Royal navy and commanded a battery in an engagement between 
Admiral Rodney and Count De Grasse. Once he was condemned by court-martial 
to be hung at the yard arm for countermanding an inhuman order of his superior 
officer. His life was saved by the intercession of Prince William Henry, Duke 
of Clarence, later King William IV., who was a fellow midshipman. On leaving 
the navy, he became captain of a United States merchantman. George Wash- 
ington and Thomas Jefferson signed his commission as captain of the "Fair 
American," sailing to France, Cape Horn and China. The Lees lived here until 
1819, when the estate was sold to Andrew Craigie. 

The next occupant was Joseph Foster, brother of Bossenger Foster, who lived 
in the Vassall house. His first wife was the daughter of John Cutler, grand 
master of the Masons, who officiated at Washington's funeral. His second wife 
was the widow Sohier, mother of William D. Sohier. Mr. Foster upheld the 
reputation of the house for hospitality. 



108 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CA^MBRIDGE 

The dividing line between Cambridge and Watertown, nutil 1754, was what is 
now Sparks street, and it was ako the line between the estates of Richard Lech- 
mere and Col. John Vassall, Jr. The house was surrounded by linden trees, of 
large size in the Lees' time. Henry W. Longfellow thus describes the house in 
his pathetic poem, "The Open Window:" 

"The old house by the lindens 

Stood silent in the shade, 
And on the gravelled pathway 
The light and shadow played." 

The present owner of the estate, Mr. William Brewster, is the boy referred to 
in the poem. But alas! the house is not on its original site. First a story was 
built under the old house, and then the upper floor taken away and the house 
removed to the west end of the land where it now stands on the corner of 
Riedesel avenue, looking so modern that one would scarcely guess its past 
history, M. I. J. G. 

HOOPER-WALDO JOSEPH LEE-NICHOLS HOUSE (B74). 

The next house west of Mr. Lechmere's, at the time of the Revolution, was 
the ancient house on the corner of Kennedy avenue. No. 159 Brattle street. It 
was once the home of a Watertown farmer. The great stack chimney built with 
clay and oyster shells, in the middle of the house, with staircase across it, points 
to its antiquity; but the first occupant of whom we know anything is Dr. Henry 
Hooper, who lived here in 1721, and was the physician of President Leverett, of 
Harvard College. A bill for treatment of this worthy has been preserved by 
Paige in his History of Cambridge, at page 598. It gives some light on the 
medical treatment of those days. 

Dr. Hooper, of Newport, R. I., sold the house to Cornelius Waldo, merchant, 
of Boston, in 1733. There is no evidence that Mr. Waldo ever lived in the house. 
In the Boston News Letter of March 11, 1742, he advertised it to be let, and in 
1758 his widow, Mrs. Faith Waldo, sold it to Judge Joseph Lee. 

The house is sixty feet front and the central chimney is twelve feet square. 
The rooms opening on either side of the hall are twenty feet square, and, except 
the parlor, have small rooms about six feet in breadth partitioned off on the side 
furthest from the chimney. This kept the main rooms warmer in days when the 
only heat was from a wood fire in the chimney. The walls were hung with land- 
scape paper. The parlor doors open into a passage leading to the stables and to 
an enclosed staircase. Doors from this passage lead to the kitchen and to a large 
bed chamber. Judge Lee probably built the third story and made other improve- 
ments, wainscoting the rooms, which are very low-studded. 

Judge Joseph Lee was the son of Thomas Lee, a ship builder, of Boston, who 
died in 1763 at the age of ninety-three, and of Deborah, his wife, daughter of 
Ensign Edward Flint, of Salem, whom he married in 1700. Judge Lee was born 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 109 

in 1710, graduated at Harvard in 1729, and married Rebecca, youngest child of 
Lieutenant-Governor Spencer Phips (published 1755). He was Judge of the 
court of cotninon pleas of Middlesex, and was one of the founders of Christ 
Church. In 1774, he was appointed one of the mandamus councillors, but was 
forced to resign by his fellow citizens, which he did from the court house steps. 
He was of a mild and retiring disposition and took no active part in the Revolu- 
tion, so that after a short absence from Cambridge he was permitted to return 
and his property was not confiscated. 

Perhaps the best description of this gentleman of the old school is that given 
in his obituary in the Columbian Centinel, December 3, 1802: "At Cambridge, 
Sunday last, Hon. Joseph Lee, aged 93. During a long life Judge Lee was re- 
spected by aU who knew him. He was distinguished in society by the manners 
of a gentleman and by the habits and principles of an honest and honorable man. 
He was a kind neighbor, warm and sincere in his friendships. Attached to the 
government from principle, he was a good subject to his king, under whom he 
executed tlie duties of an important office with fidelity and honor; and with 
equal fidelity he adhered to the government of the United States since the Revo- 
lution In attendance on religious duties he was exemplary and amidst the in- 
firmities of age, he has seen with composure the slow approaches of death and 
fostered not the wish to lengthen the daj's of sorrow and pain." 

In his will, dated 1802, Judge Lee left the house in Sherborn, that he bought of 
Edward Hutchinson, to his niece, Elizabeth Newell. His lot, fifty feet viide, 
that formerly belonged to Professor Samuel Williams (this was on the west side 
of Harvard square, near Church street), to Harvard College; to Thomas Lee, of 
Salem, "in remembrance not only of his kind care and attention to my blind and 
insane Sister Abigail, but also of his assistance to me worn out by age, my 
house and land in Salem, purchased of Benjamin Carpenter, on Essex street;" 
to his nieces and nephews and to relatives of his wife, including Richard Lech- 
mere and his daughter Mary, who had married James Russell, of Bristol, Eng- 
land, and Rebecca Brett, widow of Captain Brett, niece of his wife, and her 
sons, legacies were left. 

Mrs. Deborah Carpenter, great-niece of the judge, lived to be about ninety- 
five years old, and occupied the house until 1860, when Mr. George Nichols 
bought it. He added the ornamental railing on the roof, the balusters of which 
are of mahogany and were once part of the communion rail of St. Paul's church, 
Boston. Later it was sold to a member of the Lee family, but Mr. and Mrs. 
Nichols continued to reside here during their lives, and the Nichols family still 
occupies the house. Mr, John Nichols, their son, has recently bought it. 



110 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

THE THOMAS LEE HOUSE. 

Judge Lee had no children, but some years before his death he built the house, 
now standing (No. 153 Brattle street) for his nephew, Thomas Lee, Jr., son of 
his brother, Thomas (H. C. 1722), who married Lois Orne, daughter of Thomas 
amd Lois (Pickering) Orne. He removed to Salem, where he died in 1747. 

Thomas Lee, Jr., was bom in 1741. He married Judith Coleman, daughter of 
Rev. Benjamin Coleman, and died January 11, 1830. He had four children — 
(George Gardner Lee, William Coleman Lee, Louisa, who married Dr. Benjamin 
Waterhouse, and Deborah, who married, first, Richard Austin and, for her 
second husband, Benjamin Carpenter. Thomas Lee let the house to Richard 
Austin in 1815 for one year, but the date of the death of this first husband is not 
known. 

This house remained the property of Mrs. Deborah Carpenter for many 
5'ears. It was long the residence of Mr. Charles F. Choate, and is now owned 
and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph B. Warner, The grounds around both 
these houses have been much curtailed, but they still preserve their ancient 
appearance. 

MARRETT-RUGGLES-FAYERWEATHER- WELLS HOUSE (B75). 

The last pre-Revolutionary house on the north side of Brattle street is the 
large, square, three-story house that faces down the present Elmwood avenue. 
It was built by Amos Marrett, son of Amos and Mary (Dunster) Marrett, fifth 
in descent from President Dunster. He was born in 1738, and married Abigail 
Tidd, daughter of Daniel and Hepzibah (Reed) Tidd, of Lexington, in 1760. He 
lived here until 1771, when he moved to Lexington and sold the estate to Colonel 
George Ruggles. He was a Revolutionary soldier, serving in Captain Parker's 
company in 1775, and in the Jerseys the following year. 

George Ruggles was of Jamaica. He married Susanna Vassall, daughter of 
Major Leonard Vassall (sister of John, Sr., William and Henry Vassall) in 
1742. They had two children — George, who died an infant in 1745, and Susanna, 
baptized in 1747, who married Ezekiel Lewis, a Boston merchant. They lived 
with Colonel Ruggles in this house. 

October 31, 1774, Colonel Ruggles sold the estate to Thomas Fayerweatlier, for 
£2,000. At the time of the Revolution, Colonel Ruggles disappeared. 

Thomas Fayerweather was the son of Thomas (a merchant of Boston) and his 
wife Hannah (Waldo) Fayerweather. He was of the fifth generation of this 
family in New England. His younger brother, Samuel Fayerweather, was the 
noted divine, a graduate of Oxford, England. His sister, Hannah, was the wife 
of Professor John Winthrop, and Anne, the youngest of the family, was the 
third wife of Mr. Thaddeus Mason. Mr. Fayerweather was a patriot, and after 




LECHMERE-SEWALL HOUSE 




FAYERWETHER HOUSE 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 111 

the Battle of Bunker Hill gave up part of his house to be used as a hospital. 
His wife, Sarah, died here in 1804, aged seventy-five; and he also passed away 
in this house, January 12, 1805, aged eighty-two. 

The next noted owner of the house wasi William Wells, who came as a boy 
from England, with his father, who settled in Boston and was a publisher. Wil- 
liam Wells took a degree at Harvard in 179C, and after the publishing house was 
burned opened a school here in 1827 to fit boys for college. Among his pupils 
were James Russell Lowell, William W. Story and Colonel Thomas Wentworth 
Higginson. (The school is described in the writings of the latter). The house 
still belongs to the grandchildren of William Wells, whose daughter married Rev. 
William Newell, long pastor of the First Parish Church. 

The house stood in a large garden with forty-five acres of land towards 
Fresh Pond. Around the pond were several old houses at the time of the Revo- 
lution. In one of them Madame Hannah Winthrop, with other women and chil- 
dren, took refuge on the eventful nineteenth of April. All these old houses are 
noTV gone. M. I. J. G. 

ELM WOOD 
OLIVER-GERRY-LOWELL HOUSE. (B76.) 

On June 11, 1760, Thomas Oliver married Elizabeth Vassall, of Cambridge, 
and a few years later built "Elmwood." The house was surrounded by broad 
fields on three sides and commanded a fine view of the Charles river, as it 
curved through salt marshes to the sea. This land, formerly the farm of 
John Stratton, lay on the outskirts of the "village" of Cambridge, and was 
accounted a part of Watertown until 1754. 

Thomas Oliver was born in Antigua, January 5, 1733. His father, Robert 
Oliver, a wealthy West India merchant, came to New England about 1737, 
settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and built there the fine Richardson, or 
Everett, house. Thomas Oliver's maternal grandmother, widow of James 
Brown, of Antigua, married for her second husband Isaac Royal, and lived in 
the "Royal House" in Medford. "Elmwood, while not resembling' the Ev- 
erett house closely, has a roof balustrade with flames, and in the interior 
has dadoes, wainscoting and carded banisters which are very similar." 

Thomas Oliver graduated from Harvard CoUeg-e in 1753. He and John Vas- 
sall, Jr., of Cambridg'e, exchanged sisters for their wives, both named Eliza- 
beth. Oliver's aunt, Penelope, was the widow of Colonel Henry Vassall, 
uncle of Mrs. Oliver, whose paternal aunts were Mrs. Georg'e Ruggles and 
Mrs. John Borland; maternal aunts, Mrs. Joseph Lee and Mrs. Richard Lech- 
mere; and maternal uncle, Colonel Phips — her mother being' a daughter of 
Governor Phips. These families formed a happy circle of relatives. Madame 
Riedesel speaks of them as the most delightfully located and happily united 
families she had ever seen, Lieutenant-Governor Oliver had .six daughters 



112 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

by Elizabeth Vassall; Ann, born in 1763, and Elizabeth, born in 1766, in 
Dorchester; Penelope, baptized in Christ Church, Cambridg-e, in 1768; Mary, 
Lucy and Frances. He inherited a large fortune from his grandfather, 
James Brown, of Antigua, and his great uncle, Robert Oliver, and did not 
engage in business, save the care of his estate, of nearly a hundred acres, 
in Cambridge. Neither did he engage in the sti'ong political contests of that 
eventful period, until, in the j'ear 1774, on the recommendation of Governor 
Hutchinson, he was appointed, by the crown, lieutenant-governor. As such, 
he was presiding officer of the so-called "Mandamus Council" appointed by 
George III. According to the charter of the Province of the Massachusetts 
Bay, councilors were to be elected. This made Oliver an object of resent- 
ment to the freeholders of Middlesex county. As the governor had dismissed 
the General Court on June 17, 1774, the sole governing power of the province 
was vested in himself and the newly appointed council. This council consist- 
ed of 36 members, 24 of whom accepted office; among the latter were two res- 
idents of Cambridge. The first meeting of this council was held at Salem, 
August 8. On the last day of that month, the removal of all the store of 
gunpowder (250 half-barrels) from the powder house on Quarry Hill in 
Charlestown, and the taking' from Cambridge of two field pieces, which had 
been sent here for the use of Colonel Brattle's regiment, alarmed the patriots 
of Middlesex county, whose enthusism had been aroused. A few days after 
the event, Lieutenant-Governor Oliver wrote as follows: "On the morning 
of September 2, a number of the inhabitants of Charlestown called at my 
house to acquaint me that a large body of people from several towns of the 
county were on their way to Cambridge. They were afraid some bad conse- 
quences might ensue and begged I would go out to meet them and endeavor 
to prevail on them to return. I went out to them and asked them the reason 
of their appearence in that manner. They said they came peaceably to In- 
quire into their grievances, not with designs to hurt any man. I perceived 
they were landholders of the neighboring towns, and was thoroughly per- 
suaded they would do no harm. I was asked to speak to them. They tlianked 
me for my advice, said they were no mob, but sober, orderly people, who 
Avould commit no disorder. They proceeded on their way. A report came 
that troops were on their march from Boston. I was desired to go and in- 
tercede with his excellency to prevent their coming." 

He undertook this commission, saying to; the people on the common as 
he passed them (about 8 A. M., the patriots said) that he would return 
to let them know the result. He expressly states that he did not go, as 
the patriots asserted in their account published September 5, to confer as to 
his position as President of the Council. On his return he informed the com- 
mittee that "no troops had been ordered and from the account given his 
excellency none would be ordered. I was thanked for the trouble I had 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 113 

taken." The committee urged him to resign from the council, but he said he 
could not unless he resigned the lieutenant-governorship. He agreed that 
if the province in general, not a single county, demanded his resignation, he 
would reeign. This was accepted as satisfactory. "I requested that they re- 
port this vote, that I should have no further trouble about it. In the after- 
noon, I observed large companies pouring in from different parts; I then 
began to apprehend they would become unmanageable, and that it would be 
expedient to get out of their way. I was just going into my catrriage. when 
a groat crowd advanced, and in a short time my house was surrounded by 
three or four thousand people, and one-quarter part in arms. I went to the 
front door, where I was met by five persons, who acquainted me tbcy were 
a committee from the people to demand a resignation of my seat at the 
board. The people were dissatisfied with the vote of the committee, and 
insisted on my signing a paper they had prepared for that purpose. All this 
occasioned a delay, which enraged part of the multitude, who, pressing into 
my back yard demanded vengeance to the foes of their liberties. The com- 
mittee endeavored to moderate them, and desired them to keep back, for they 
pressed up to my windows, which then were opened; I could from thence 
hear them at a distance calling out for a determination, and with their arms 
in their hands, swearing they would have my blood if I refused. The com- 
mittee appeared to be anxious for me." This with the distress of his family 
led him to cast about for some way of escape without loss of honor. 

"I proposed they should call in the people to take me out by force, but they 
said the people were enraged, and they would not answer for the conse- 
quences. I told them I would take the risk, but they refused to do it. Re- 
duced to this extremity, I cast my eyes over the paper with a hurry of 
mind and conflict of passion, which rendered me unable to remark the con- 
tents and wrote the words underneath it. The five persons took it, carried 
it to the people;" they, and the landholders he had met in the morning, 
urged its acceptance. "I had several messages from the people that they 
would not accept it, with those additions. Upon which I walked into the 
court yard and declared I would do no more, though they should put me to 
death." 

The following is a copy of the paper which Lieutenant-Governor Oliver 
signed: 

> "Cambridge, September 2, 1774. 

"I, Thomas Oliver, being appointed by his majesty to a seat at the Council 
Board, upon and in conformity to the Act of Parliament, entitled. An Act for 
the better regulation of the Province of Massachusets Bay, which being a 
manifest infringement of the Charter rights and privileges of the people, I 
do hereby, in conformity to the commands of the body of the County now 
convened, most solemnly renounce and resign my seat at said unconstitu- 
tional board, and hereby firmly promise and engage, as a man of honor and 

8 



114 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

a Christian, that I never will hereafter upon any terms whatever accept a 
seat at said board on the present novel and oppressive plan of government. 
My house at Cambrldg-e being surrounded by about four thousand people, in 
compliance with their command, I sign my name. 

"THOMAS OLIVER." 

Sabine, in his "American Loyalists," says that except for the representa- 
tions of Oliver to the governor, "the first collision between the King's troops 
and the inhabitants of Massachusetts would have occurred, very likely, at 
Cambridge, and not Lexington." The patriots' account states that the com- 
mittees of Charlestown and Boston, notified of the gathering, had hastened 
to Cambridge early that morning; also that Samuel Danforth and Joseph Lee 
were forced on that day to resign from the council. In a few days Lieu- 
tenant-Governor Oliver left Cambridge, with his family and household goods, 
never to return. He was civil governor of Boston till its evacuation, when 
he sailed to Halifax. Later, Samuel Curwen dined with him and his fam- 
ily at Bristol, England, where Richard Lechmere and other Cambridge 
friends were also living. His wife died during the war, and on June 3, 1781, he 
married Harriet Freman, at St. Johns, Antigua. Although his Cambridge 
property was confiscated, he still owned large estates in the West Indies. He 
died at Bristol, England, November 20, 1815. 

After the battle of Lexington, his estate in Cambridge came under the 
control and protection of the Committee of Safety. "May 27, 1775— Mr. "Wes- 
son, keeper of Thomas Oliver, Esquire's, farm, had orders to secure any 
creatures that might be put into his enclosure by ill-disposed persons and to 
Inform the committee thereof." July 20, 1775— "It being represented that 
the present hospital is not large eneough to contain the sick, Lieutenant- 
Governor Oliver's house is to be cleared for that purpose, and care to be 
taken that no injury Is done it." Later, the estate was leased. Probably 
the sick and wounded remained here all the year that Cambridge was a 
camp. Those who died were buried on the corner of what is now Mount 
Auburn and Channing streets. Some years ago, the bones found here in 
digging the foundations of a house, were re-interred in the old Cambridge 
Cemetery and a monument erected over them. 

The estate was confiscated and sold by the commonwealth of Massachu- 
setts to Andrew Cabot, Esq., of Salem, November 24, 1779, for £47,000 "law- 
ful money," possession to be given tlie following April. Andrew Cabot pur- 
chased other confiscated estates and became a large landholder in East Cam- 
bridge. When the petition for a bridge from Charlestown was under dis- 
cussion in the General Court, he presented a rival petition for a bridge to 
Boston from T.,echmere Point in East Cambridge. The town of Cambridge 
supported this petition, but the Charlestown scheme prevailed, and a Cam- 
bridge bridge was not built until 1792. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 115 

ELBRIDGE GERRY. 

May 16, 1787, Andrew Cabot conveyed the estate to Elbridge Gerry, a sign- 
er of the Declaration of Independence, and, during his residence at Elm- 
wood, governor of Massachusetts and vice-president of the United States. 
Ninety-six acres were sold with the house. Eleven acres of the upland lay 
on the south side of the Charles river, now Brighton, then a part of Cam- 
bridge. The salt marsh belonging to the estate, lay on both sides of the 
river. The thirty-four acres accounted as belonging toi the "homestead,' 
stretched northward to Fresh Pond. Gerry was born at Marblehead, Mas- 
sachusetts, July 17, 1744, and began his political life in 1772, as a represent- 
ative of that town in the provincial legislature. Later, he was an influen- 
tial member of the first and second Continental congresses. His wife was a 
daughter of the secretary of congress, Charles Thomson, of Philadelphia. She 
was a beautiful lady, educated in Europe, and descended, on her mother's 
side, from one of the old families of New York. Gerry's first connection with 
Cambridge was as a student in Harvard College, from which he received the 
A.B. degree in 1762. He was also a member of the provincial congress which 
sat in Cambridge in February, 1775, and at Watertown, after the battle 
of Lexington. * 

A fortnight after Gerry obtained title to Elmwood, the constitutional con- 
vention, of which Gerry was a member, convened in Philadelphia. Gerry, 
in opposing the ratification of the constitution, found himself out of sym- 
pathy with many of his associates and with the community in which he 
had recently come to live. During the commencement season in 17S8, en 
July 8, John Adams and J. Q. Adams "went to Mr. Gerry's and passed the 
evening. We found Mrs. Mercy Warren there, and were in the midst of anti- 
federalism, but quite in good humor. My father had promised to take a lodg- 
ing at Judge Dana's, but at Mr. Gerry's invitation, I (John Quincy Adams) 
passed the night at his house." Gerry was not one of the "irreconcileables," and 
Middlesex county chose him, on the second ballot, its representative to the 
first congress. After four years' service, he declined re-election and passed 
the next four years quietly on his "farm." There he was noted for his hos- 
pitality. He entertained many distingruished visitors, and, also, endeared him- 
self to the students of Harvard College. It has been said that he was particu- 
larly interested in the development of young minds, while his benevolent 
feelings and affable manners in the home, charmted the home circle. In 1797, 
he was chosen a presidential elector, and was pleased to cast his vote for his 
old friend, John Adams. Under appointment by Adams as commissioner 
to France, he embarked at Boston and did not again touch American soil 
until October 1, 1798. Bitterly criticised for remaining in Paris after his col- 
leagues, Marshall and Pickney, left, his family in Cambridge suffered much 



116 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

anxiety for his fate, and many annoyances. Colonel James T. Austin (H. C. 
1802), whose acquaintance with the family dated from undergraduate days 
at Harvard, and who married Gerry's daughter, Catherine, writes in his 
life of Gerry that 'on several occasions the morning's sun shone upon the 
model of a guillotine erected iu the field before her window, smeared with 
blood, and having the effigy of a headless man. Savage yells were uttered 
in the night time to disturb the sleep of this family of females, and the 
glare of blazing fagots suddenly broke upon its darkness, to terrify them 
with apprehensions of immediate conflagration." 

From the direct tax of 1798 It is learned that, just before his return, 
two farmers were living in Gerry's estates in Cambridge. Benjamin Prentice 
was tenant of ninety-eight acres, with a house, barns and mill; William 
Packard, of seventy-five acres, with house and barns. Gerry's family occu- 
pied the "Mansion House" and two acres of land valued at $5,370; the 
dwelling houses of the tenant farmers, with 40 rods of land annexed to each, 
were valued at only $270 and $425, respectively. On his return from France, 
Gerry retired to the care of his family and farm in Cambridge. A friend, 
for whom he had been surety to a large amount, failed and left him with 
a weight of obligations, from which he never fully extricated himself. 
"Notwithstanding this and the illness of his wife which extended over 
a period of years and caused him much anxiety and care, the occasional 
visitor of distinction at this mansion was delighted with the cheerfulness 
of his manners, the ease and freedom of his conversation abounding in 
anecdote and the recital of by-gone events, piquant and full of wit, which, 
under the control of good feelings, never inflicted a voluntary wound." 

He was the unsuccessful candidate for governor in 1798 and in 1801. He 
was elected governor of Massachusetts in 1810, and re-elected in 1811, 
after very exciting canvasses. As governor, he received the degree of LL.D. 
from Harvard College in 1810. He was a member of the American Academy 
of Arts and Sciences. In 1812 he was elected vice-president of the United 
States, but in the second j'ear of his service, when seventy years of age, 
he died on his way to the senate chamber in "Washington, leaving a widow, 
three sons, and six daughters. He was interred in the congressional burial 
ground. A monument erected by special act of congress marks his grave. 
His motto, engraved on this monument, was: "Every man, though he may 
have but one day to live, should devote that day to the good of his country." 



THE LOWELL FAMILY. 

In 1818, the Rev. Charles Lowell, pastor of the West Street Congrregational 
Church in Boston (1806-1845), purchased the "Mansion House" of Elbridge 
Gerry, with a few adjoining acres from his widow, and there, on February 22, 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE llT 

of the following year, was born James Russell Lowell, the youngest in a 
household of four brothers and two sisters. Of the father, Charles Eliot Norton 
writes: "His presence was striking and comely, and his looks and manners 
corresponded in their benignity with the sweet simplicity of his nature. As a 
clergyman, he was unusually beloved, and he discharged his clerical duties 
with devout fidelity and with quick and tender sympathies. He was a lover of 
books and he possessed more culture, both literary and social, than most of 
the clergy, his contemporaries." Grandson of the first Congregational minister 
in Newburyport and son of John Lowell, LL.D., the noted lawyer and judge, 
he was born in Boston, graduated at Harvard College (ISOO), read law for a 
few months, then (1802) went toi Europe and studied theology and medicine in 
Edinburgh. His "nature was hospitable and his family connection so wide 
that his son, the poet, saw from early youth a pleasant side of social life." 
His mother was touched with sometliing of the romance and northern min- 
strelsy of the solitary Orkney Isles from which her family came, and old 
songs and poetic lore were familiar to the children of the house from their 
cradles. Cambridge was still a village, and Fresh Pond "the haunt of herons 
and other shy birds and land-creatures" when the poet was born. In "Cam- 
bridge Thirty Years Ago" he describes the scene from the hill by the river. 

In the introduction to the Biglow Papers, he describes how, as a tiny lad, 
"the cart of Neighbor Pomeroy, tnmdling from the mart" sometimes shortened 
his "caper homeward" from the dameschool until, 

"Dropped at the corner of the embowered lane. 

Whistling, I wade the knee-deep leaves again. 
While eager Argus, who has missed all day 

The sharer of his condescending play. 
Comes leaping onward with a bark elate 

And boisterous tail to greet me at the gate; 
That I was true in absence to our love 

Let the thick dog's-ears in my primer prove." 

"A handsome boy and his mother's darling," fond of the out-door world, he 
spent an exceptionally happy childhood in the fields and woods about Elmwood. 

In 1844, Lowell married Maria White, a sister of a Harvard classmate. After 
four months spent in Philadelphia, he brought her home to Elmwood. A 
visitor from across the sea, Predrica Bremer, thus pictures the family life: 

"The whole family assembles every day for morning and evening prayers 
around the venerable old man; and he it is who blesses every meal. His 
prayers, which are always extempore, are full of the true and inward life, 
and I felt them as a pleasant, refreshing dew upon my head, and seldom arose 
from my knees with dry eyes. With him live his youngest son, the poet, 
and his wife; — such a handsome and happy young couple as one can hardly 
imagine. He is full of life and youthful ardor; she as gentle, as delicate, 
as fair as a lily, and one of the most lovable women that I have seen in 



118 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CA]MBRIDGE 

this country, because her beauty is so full of soul and grace as is everything 
•which she does or says. Occasslonally he is gay, watty and brilliant, and liis 
talk is like an incessant play of fireworks. I find him very agreeable and 
amiable; he seems to have many friends, mostly young men. There Is a trace 
of beauty in everything Mrs. Lowell touches, whether of mind or body; above 
all, she beautifies life. — She reads her husband's poetry charmingly well." 

Four little ones came to this couple. Of Blanche, the eldest, named for his 
wife's family — White — he wrote: "My father loved her so that he almost broke 
his heart in endeavoring to console Maria when it was at last decided that 
the dear child was not to be spared to us." When the poet died in 1891, her 
tiny shoes — the only ones she ever wore — hung over a picture in his chamber. 
One little one. Rose, was buried at Mount Auburn, whither the wife was 
also borne in 1853. The only son, Walter, lies in Rome. Mabel, the second 
child, lived to be married at Elmwood and to return tliither in 1889i with her 
father, the poet, and a son, just entering college. For nearly ten years Low- 
ell had been absent from Cambridge — in the diplomatic service in Spain and 
England, and at his daughters home in Southboro — Ole Bull, the famous vio- 
linist, occupying the house during this absence. 

Through Lowell's letters, edited by Charles Eliot Norton, happy glimpses are 
gained of almost every room in the house. In 1848, he thus describes his 
first study at Elmwood: "Here I am in my garret. I slept here when I was 

a curly-headed boy, and in it I used to be shut up without a lamp— my mother 

« 

saying none of her children should be afraid of the dark.— It is a pleasant 
room facing— almost equally— towards the morning and the afternoon sun. In 
winter I can see the sunset, in summer I can see it only as it lights up the 
tall trunks of the English elms in front of the house, making them sometimes, 
when the sky behind them is lead-coloied, seem of the most brilliant yellow. 
In winter, my view is a wide one, taking in a part of Boston. — As the spring 
advances and one after the other of our trees puts forth, the landscape is 
cut off from me, piece by piece^ till, by the end of May, I am closeted in a 
cool and rustic privacy of leaves. Then I begin to bud with the season, when 
I can sit at my open window and my friendly leaves hold their hands before 
my eyes to prevent their w-andering to the landscape. I can sit down and 
write." 

In 1873 Lowell wrote from Paris to Thomas Bailey Aldrich, who was occupy- 
ing Elmwood in his absence: "It is a pleasant old house, isn't it? Doesn't el- 
bow one, as it were. It will make a frightful conservative of you before you 
know it. I was bom a Tory and will die so. Don't get too used to It. I oftenwish 
I had not grown into it so. I am not happy anywhere else." In 1875: "I am 
sitting now with Fanny sewing beside me, on our new veranda, which we 
built last fall on the north side of the house.— The catalpa is just coming into 
blossom, and the chestnut hard by is hoary with blossoms. A quail is calling 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 119 

'Bob White' over in tiie field, butterflies are shimmering over Fanny's flowers, 
ro-bins are singing with all their might, and there will come a humming- 
bird before long. I see the masts in the river and the spires in the town." 

In 1857 lie married for his second wife Frances Dunlap, a friend of his 
first wife. Of her, Stillman says: "She was of a dark beauty, with a fine, sub- 
tle faculty of appreciation, serious and tender, whicli was to him healing from 
sorrow and a defence against all trouble, a very spring of life and hope." In 
August, 1875, he writes: "My view is v«ry dear to me, for it is what my eyes 
first looked upon, and I trust will look on las't. A group of tall pines planted 
by my father, and my life-long friends, murmurs to me asi I write. — A horse- 
chestnut, of which I planted the seed more than fifty years ago, lifts its huge 
stack of shade before me and loves me with its leaves. — I should be as happy 
as a humming-bird were I not printing another volume of essays." 

In 1890, in his seventy-first year, he thus describes the house: " 'Tis a 
pleasant old house just about twice as old as I am, fooir miles from Boston, 
in what was once the country and is now a populous suburb. But it still has 
some ten acres of open about it, and some fine old trees. It is a square house 
with four rooms on a floor, like some houses of the Georgian era I have seen 
in English provincial towns, only they are of brick and this is of wood. But it 
is solid with its heavy oaken beams, the spaces between which in the four 
walls are filled in with brick, though you must not fancy a brick-and-timber 
house, for outwardly it is .sheathed with wood. Inside there is much wninscot 
(of deal) painted white in the fashion of the time it was built. It Is very 
sunny—. There is a pretty staircase with the quaint old twisted banisters—. 
My library occupies two rooms, opening into each other by arches at the sides 
of the ample chimneys. The trees I look out on are the earliest things I 
remember. The two old English elms in front of the house haven't changed — 
the sturdy islanders, a trifle thicker in the waist perhaps, as is the wont 
of prosperous elders, but looking just as I first saw them seventy years ago, 
and it is a balm to my eyes! There j^ou have me in my new old quarters. 
But you must not fancy a large house — rooms sixeen feet square and, on 
the ground floor, nine higli. It was large as things went here when it 
was built, and has a certain air of amplitude about it as from some inward 
sense of dignity." 

Lowell's library comprised some 7,600 volumes, among them many valuable 
editions added during his years of diplomatic service at Madrid and London. 
Leslie Stephen describes the pleasant hours he spent in the Elmwood study 
during his visit to Cambridge in 1863: "I remember, with a curious vividness, 
the chairs in which we sat by the fire-place in the study. I look at the dedi- 
cation of 'Under the "Willows' and feel that I, too, have heard his 'Elmwood 
chimney's' deep-throated roar, and, indeed, can almost hear it still. All around 
us were the crowded book-shelves, whose appearance showed them to be the 



120 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

companions of the true literary workman— students' tools, notmere ornamental 
playthings. He would sit among his books, pipe in mouth, a book in hand, 
hour after hour! And I was soon intimate enough to sit by him and enjoy 
intervals of silence as well as periods of discussion and always delightful talk. 
I feel as though I could walk up to the shelves and put my hand upon 
any of the books which served as texts or perhaps as mere accidental starting- 
places for innumerable discussions — would suggest occasional flashes of the 
playful or penetrative criticism which is so charming in his writings, and 
which was yet more charming as it came quick from the brain. Or he would 
look from his 'study windows' and dwell lovingly upon the beauties of the 
American Elm or the gambols of the gray squirrel on the lawn. When I was 
last at Elmwood, in 1S90, the sight of these squirrels (or their descendants) 
took me back twenty-seven years at a bound, and I was pleased to find how 
dear was the vision of the old days. To see Lowell in his home and the 
home of his father was to realize more distinctly what is indeed plain enough 
in all his books — horw deeply he had struck his roots into his native earth. 
Cosmopolitan as he was in knowledge, with the literature not only of England, 
but of France and Italy at his fingers' ends, the genuine Yankee, the Hosea 
Biglow, was never far below the surface. Lowell's ardent belief in his nation 
was, to an outsider, a revelation of greatness both in the object of his affections 
and in the man who could feel tliem. Tlie 'Commemoration Ode,' with its fine 
passages upon the necessity of the poet 'keeping measure witli his people"* ex- 
plains all this far better than any clumsy analysis of mine. At that time, 
when the passions roused by the war were at their height, and every day 
brought news to mal;e patriots' nerves quiver, I had naturally opportunities 
to see Lowell's true feeling and to admire his profound faith in the success 
of the good cause, in whose defense he himself had lost his three nephews. 

At this time Lowell's study was the rear room at the left of the hall. In 
1876, Lowell wrote: "I have changed my quarters, and moved out of the library 
into the front room where a long window gives me more breeze, and where 
I shall have the morning sun in winter, which I crave more as I grow older." 
His easy chair still (1906) stands beside this window. His desk is near at 
liand, while above the fire-place is the lifelike and exquisitely lovely portrait of 
Maria White Lowell. The poet's grandchildren, the fourth generation of the 
Lowell family to occupy the house, preserve the house and grounds and many 

memorials of the poet. 

L. B. C. 

HOME OF COLONEL SAMUEL THATCHER. 

Opposite Elmwood, on what is now the corner of Mount Auburn street and 
Coolidge avenue, stood the Thatcher homestead. Deacon Samuel Thatcher, 
selectman and representative, who died in 1669, came from England and set- 
tled here. His son, Samuel Thatcher, Jr., who married Mary Farnsworth and 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 121 

was a lieutenant in the militia, inherited the estate and left it, in 1726, to his 
son, Ebenezer, born in 1704 and married in 1732 to Susanna Spring-. He was a 
weaver, and died about 1753. His son, Colonel Samuel Thatcher, was born here 
and baptized November 5, 1732. He married Mary Brown, of Lexington, and 
had two sons who graduated at Harvard College. Samuel, born in 1776, gradu- 
ated in 1793, moved to "Warren, Maine, became a member of Congress, 1801-5, 
and held many offices of trust. Ebenezer, H. C. 1798, was a lawyer at Thom- 
aston, Maine, and married Lucy F., daughter of General Henry Knox. 

Colonel Samuel Thatcher was one of tlie most active citizens of Cambridge 
in the Revolutionary period. On the organization of the Committee of Cor- 
respondence, December 14, 1772, he was elected a member. On November 26, 
1773, this committee adopted a series of resolution.';, one of which was: "That 
this town can no longer stand idle spectators, but are ready, on the shortest 
notice, to join with the town of Boston and other towns, in any measure that 
may be thought proper, to deliver ourselves and posterity from slavery." All 
the resolutions of this committee were intensely patriotic, so it is not sur- 
prising to find SamUfcl Thatcher enrolled among the Minute Men. When Gen- 
eral Brattle gave place to Thomas Gardner, who was chosen commander of 
the militia, the First Middlesex Regiment, Thatcher, who had been lieutenant, 
was promoted to be captain. 

On the night of the eighteenth of April, 1775, the lantern was hung out on the 
steeple of the old North Church, Boston, and Paul Revere and others started 
on their rides to alarm the inhabitants of the adjoining towns. The expe- 
dition under Lieutenant-Colonel Smith landed at Lechmere Point. News was 
brought to the centre of the town and the militia, under Captain Thatoher, 
was among the foremost to sally forth for the public defense. They pursued 
the foe very early in the morning and were in the fight throughout the day. 

Colonel Thomas Gardner died of the wounds received at the Battle of 
Bunker Hill, and Captain Thatcher succeeded him in command of the regi- 
ment and executed all the duties required. He did not see much active ser- 
vice, but was always a patriot. During the latter years of his life, he resided 
on the westerly corner of Mount Auburn and Boylston etreets. He was 
selectman, treasurer and representative and, while holding these offices, he 
died suddenly of apoplexy, June 27, 1786. His heirs sold the homestead, on 
the corner of Coolidge Avenue, to Governor Gerry, April 4, 1793. 

SITE OF HOUSE OF JOHN VASSALL, SENIOR. 

On the rise of land overlooking the river, to the east of the old road (now 
Elmwood avenue), and south of Mount Auburn street. Colonel John Vassall, 
the elder, built a house for himself after he had sold his home on Brattle 
street to his brother, Henry Vassall. Here he lived with his second wife, 
Lucy, only daughter of Jonathan Barron, of Chelmsford, and here he died, 
November 27, 1747. His daughter, Lucy, was born here just twelve days before 



122 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

her father's death. She married John Lavincourt, of Antigua. John Vassall's 
widow married Beujamiu Ellery, November 23, 1749, and died tiiroe years later. 
No trace of the house exists and it is not even known what its appearance was. 

A rise near the river, dug down not inany years since, was long known as 
Simon's Hill, so called from Simon Stone, the first owner, who settled hore 
in 1634. He was a brother of Gregory Stone. This part of Cambridge was 
later called Sweet Auburn, and the name is connected with two authoresses 
of the first half of the eighteenth century, Caroline Howard, daughter of 
Samuel Howard, a sljipwright of North square, Boston, one of the men who 
threw over the tea in Boston Harbor, lived here with her widowed mother. 
At the age of sixteen she wrote "Jephtha's Rash Vow" and other poems. 
In 1819, she married Rev. Samuel Oilman, author of "Fair Harvard," and 
went to Charleston, S. C, where her husband was settled as the pastor of the 
Unitarian church. Her best known book was "The Recollections of a South- 
ern Matron." - Mrs. Howard's white cottage stood in the northeasterly corner 
of w-hat is now Mount Auburn Cemetery. Another daughter of Mrs. Howard 
maiTied Mr. White and was the mother of Maria "UTiite, the first wife of James 
Russell Lowell. 

Caroline F. Orne published in 1844, a book of poems entitled "Sweet Au- 
burn," In which she described this neighborhood. She was a descendant of 
Simon Stone and lived on the Stone estate. Another book of hers was called 
"Morning Songs of American Freedom.". Miss Orne was a valued member of 
the Hannah Winthrop Chapter. She died in 1905. 

THE COMMON. 

The historic interest of Cambridge Common dates back from the earliest 
settlement of the town by Winthrop and his followers, in 1630. In tl-.eir plan 
of the new town, they reserved a large tract of land, or "town commons," for 
public use. 

The northwest part, covering the site of the present common and extending 
as far as Llnnaean street, was set apart for the safe keeping of milch cows at 
night and was called the Cow Common. The value of this place of security for 
their cattle is indicated by the numerous entries in the early town records, 
which show the strict rules to which their owners were subject and the care 
taken to protect these milch cows, not only from Indians and wolves, but 
from the incursion of other domestic animals. However vital a factor was 
the safety of their milch cows to the infant settlement, the common was de- 
voted to quite other purposes. 

It was intended, primarily, for a training ground for the militia; and 
previous to 1686 all able-bodied men were obliged to do military service. The 
common was also the forum of the embryo city. After the English fashion, 
elections were held here In the open air; and, in times of excitement, the 
people of the town and from all parts of the county flocked thither to dls- 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 123 

cuss the matter In dispute and to air their grievances. One of the most 
memorable occasions of this kind was in 1637, when the colony was nearly- 
rent in twain over the Hutchinson controversy. Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, 
the "first strong- minded woman in NewEnglandhistory," had by her brilliant 
attacks on Puritan theology, brought under her spell many prominent men, 
among them the young governor, Sir Henry Vane. Ex-Govemor "Winthrop 
was opposed to her, as a disturber of the peace. At that tiine, "the church 
was the state and the state was the church." None but chtu-ch members 
were allowed to vote on any political question, and the election of gov- 
ernor, then pending-, turned upon this theological issue. 

THE OLD OAK. 

Cambridge was then the seat of government, and the election of chief 
magistrate was to be held under a certain oak on the common. Tlie ad- 
herents of Vane and Winthrop, the opposing candidates, gathered ih force 
and excitement ran high, so that violence was feared. At the height of 
the tumult. Rev. John Wilson, pastor of the Boston church, where the 
trouble centered, in spite of his forty-nine years and large bulk, climbed 
into the old oak and, from that point of vantage, addressed the people to 
such good purpose that quiet was restored and the election proceeded, re- 
sulting in favor of Ex-Govemor Winthrop. This famous oak was on the 
east side of the common, opposite Holmes place, and on the site of this 
tree the park commission have planted an elm grown from the seed of the 
renowned Washington Elm. 

Another historic landmark on the old common was the "Whitefield tree," 
which stood on the northwest side of the common, a few rods from the Wash- 
ington Elm. In 1740, the Wesleyan evangelist. Rev. George Whitefield, vis- 
ited Cambridge. "This mighty warrior of the church militant" had 
preached with great boldness and vehemence, denouncing the New England 
clergy as lacking in piety, and was especially severe upon Harvard College 
for its low standard of morals. 

It was not thought wise to admit him to the pulpit of the Cambridge 
church, but he gathered large audiences in the open air, under the old elm. 
His preaching is characterized as "powerful and awakening" and the fruits 
of his labors a "general shaking of dry bones in town and college." The 
Whitefield tree remained standing, on Garden street, a little north of Water- 
house street, until 1869, when, on accoount of its impeding public travel, it 
was removed by the city. 

In September, 1774, there occurred on the common one of those stirring 
scenes which preceded the breaking out of the Revolution. A crowd of two 
thousand determined men, freeholders from all parts of Middlesex county, 
collected on Cambridge Common to demand and enforce the resignation of 
the crown officers— Lieutenant-Governor Oliver and Judges Danforth and 



lU HISTORIC GUIDE TO CA^IBRIDGE 

Lee, residents of Cambridg-e, the appointment of whom, by the king, the 
colonists regarded as a violation of their charter. There was great excite- 
ment and indig'nation on the part of the people, and their attitude was so 
firm that the officers thought it prudent to comply with their demands, 
although under protest. 

A few months later, on April 19, 1775, an armed gathering of yeomanry 
rendezvoused on Cambridge Common to dispute tlie passage of Percy's 
troops on their return from Concord. The Revolution was then fairly be- 
gun, and the first Revolutionary camp was on Cambridge Common. Here 
the first Revolutionary army was organized. Here the patriots gathered 
from all parts of New England, from the farm, the forge and the workshop — 
equipped only with the rudest weapons, but ready to stake their lives for 
liberty. 

On June 16, 1775, Colonel Prescott and his Spartan band of one thousand 
men were drawn up on this common and received marching orders. Paus- 
ing only at the gambrel-roofed house from whose doorstep President Lang- 
don, of Harvard College, commended them and their enterprise to the care 
of Almighty God, they hurried on to Bunker Hill and to that conflict of 
blood and fire, which made "the liberties of the people safe" and conse- 
crated the heights of Charlestown as a sacred shrine. 

THE WASHINGTON ELM. 

When Washington arrived in Cambridge, he found nine thousand militia 
encamped in tents on Cambridge Common, and here, under the famous elm, 
be took formal command of the American army. 

Among the treasures of historic interest in tlie town, this tree is our 
most precious relic — the Washington Elm. Its well founded traditions have 
been sung by our own poets, Lowell and Holmes, and the hallowed mem- 
ories of the "simple great ones," who have stood within its shade, make 
this a sacred as well as historic shrine. Until recently, included in the Cam- 
bridge Common, this venerable monarch of past ages, guarded and chei-ished 
by the loving care of the city fathers, now stands in a little court of Its 
own, in Garden street, which borders the common on the south. Though 
shorn of its former wealth of overhanging branches, its weakness sup- 
ported by bands and braces, this "brave old tree" is dear to the heart of 
every citizen and every child of the city. Every summer, thousands of pil- 
grims visft this only living memorial of a glorious historic event. 

On a massive granite block at its feet is recorded the simple legend: 

"Under this tree 

Washington 

First took command 

of the 

American Army 

July 3d, 1775." 



MAP C. 

56. Barnabas Lamson-Francis-Josliua Gamage-Moses Richardson-Royal Morse. 

57. Richard Parks-John Green-Nathaniel Hill-Nathaniel Hancock-Caleb Gannett. 

58. John Meane-Hastiugs. 

59. William Vassall-Rev. Wiawood Sarjeant-Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse-William 

Ware. 
59a. Old Tavern. 

60. Cooper's shop. 

61. Golden Moore-Abraham Hill-Deacon Josiah Moore-Dr. Timothy Lindall 

Jennison. 

62. Henry Prentice House-Ireland-Fay House-Radcliffe College. 

63. Prentice-Molly Hancock House. 

64. Fourth and Fifth School-house. 

65. Christ Church. 

66. Rev. Jabez Fox-Jonathan Hastings, Jr.-General Ward's Headquarters- 

Holmes House-Birthplace of Oliver Wendell Holmes. 

67. Danforth-Foxcroft Estate. 



Whitefid^d ^ 




0(d BurwiTtG 
Q.rou 



ainbridge CominoTi it^ I/ft. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CA:MBRIDGE 125 

REVOLUTIONARY BARRACKS— 1775-7S. 

Barracks were built at the northwest corner of the common, and here, for 
ten months, that tireless commander labored to org-anize the motley crowd 
of undisciplined, ununiformed and half-armed provincials into an army, fit to 
cope with regulars. Meanwhile, the siegre of Boston had been successfully 
accomplished; and, with the departure of the British, the tide of war 
rolled away from New England and Cambridge Common resumed its peace- 
ful aspect. 

For many years thereafter, Cambridge Common presented Its scenes of 
greatest activity on Commencement Day at Harvard College. This was the 
great gala day of the year for the college. People came from all parts of 
the state to enjoy its festivities. The common was almost covered over with 
tents offering various side shows and booths providing refreshment. The 
arrival of the governor and his military escort gave color and tone to 
the scene, and the literary exercises of the day, in the church, became 
secondary to the attractions of the common. 

In 1724, the common was reduced within the boundary of Waterhouse 
street, and, in 1769, it was granted to the town by the Proprietors of Com- 
mon Lands on certain terms and conditions, for public use forever, but the 
vested rights of the tov.Ti were not complete till 1828. In 1830, after strong 
opposition and some litigation, the present common was fenced In, avenues 
were laid out, trees planted, and it was otherwise beautified at the private 
expense of Judge Faj', so that the old common was transformed into a beau- 
tiful park, now the pride of our city. 

SOLDIERS* MONUMENT. 

The Civil War of 1861-'64 brought to the front another race of heroes and 
again Cambridge was first in the country's service. Thirty officers and 
310 non-commissioned officers and men from our city laid down their lives 
for a united country, and, in their honor, the city, on June 17, 1867, laid 
the comer stone of the fine monument which now adorns the common. The 
monument was designed and completed by the Cobb brothers, themselves 
soldiers in the war, and was dedicated fn 1870 with appropriate ceremonies. 
On each Memorial Day impressive exercises of music and eulogry are held 
near the monument and throngs, including old brothers in arms, army posts, 
and women and children, bring garlands of flowers in memory of the dead 
heroes whose names are inscribed on the tablets of the monument. 

THE CANNON. 

Near by, mounting guard on the green sward, are three ancient cannon 
which were captured by Ethan Allen, at Crown Point, in 1775, and were a 
part of the spoils conveyed to Cambridge by General Knox on "forty-two 



126 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

sleds ■v\ith eighty yoke of oxen." Two of them are of British manufacture 
and the other a French siege gun, probably taken in the conquest of Can- 
ada by the English. These guns were used in the siege of Boston. 

JOHN BRIDGE STATUE. 

Like a sentinel in the quiet dignity of the ideal Puritan, stands, at the 
northern end of the common, the bronze statue of John Bridge, one of the 
earliest settlers of Cambridge, a man who held many positions of honor 
and trust. His descendant, Samuel J. Bridge, in 1882 presented this statue, 
by Daniel French, to the city. This noble figure, representing the very 
"Beginnings of New England," those grim old cannon, speaking silently of 
the Revolutionary period, and the Soldiers' Monument, which recalls so 
vividly the Civil War of our own time, are interesting links in the history of 
our glorious past. 

Where is there a spot richer in historic association than Cambridge 
Common? M. J. B. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON MEMORIAL GATEWAY. 

Standing at the south entrance of the common near Clirist Church is the George 
Washington Memorial Gateway, erected by the General Society Daughters of 
the Revolution. It is built of Milford pink granite. Two massive posts, each 
surmounted by a cap and ball, form the gateway. Extending from the side of 
each post is a solid wall, in tlie centre panels of which, at a height of about 
five feet, are inserted bronze tablets. As one faces the gateway, the tablet on 
the left reads: "Near this spot on July 3d, 1775. George Washington took com- 
mand of the American Army." A medallion of Washington surrounded by 
laurel is in the centre of this tablet. The tablet on the right bears the inscrip- 
tion: "In memory of this event, this gateway was erected A. D, October. 1906." 
Below this is the seal of the society with a background of palms. At right 
angles to these walls are similar walls forming a thrco-sided enclosure with a 
seat at the base of each side-wall. At the top of the posts forming an arch, is 
an elaborately designed grille, at whose apex is the seal of the Commonwealth. 
A granolithic floor runs from the fence of the common to the threshold of the 
gateway. This memorial was dedicated October 19th, 1906, with appropriate 
exercises, held in Christ Church. 

HENRY PRENTICE HOUSE. 

The first of these estates, on the southeasterly corner of Garden and Mason 
streets, was granted in 16.'i4 to Guy Bainbridge, who died in 1645. Justice Bain- 
bridge, his widow, exchanged her home for that of William Towne, sexton of the 
first mecting-houso, when the new moeting-housc was built on Watch Hill, and 
he no longer wished to live on Dunster street. His stay must have been short, 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 127 

for Henry Preutice, "the emigrant," who came from Sudbury, died here in 
1G54. Prentice's widow, Joanna, his second wife, married John Gibson, and 
became step-mother of Ilebecea (Gibson) Stearns who, says Paige, thought her- 
self bewitched by Mary Holman. John Prentice, grandson of Henry, resided 
here, also his son Henry, styled in the Records "Henry Prentice third," and in 
conversation, "Cooper Prentice." He married (1) Sarah, daughter of Jacob Hill, 
(2) Susanna Brown, of Watertown, (3) Eunice Fitch, of Bedford, and died 
about 1797. 

FAY HOUSE. 

John Prentice, his son, in 1806 sold the estate to Nathaniel Ireland, who, 
November IS, 1802, had married Sally Prentice. 

Ireland paid twelve hundred dollars for the acre-and-a-quarter of land, and 
built the house now known as Fay House. He was a naker of iron work for 
ships and lost his fortune at the time of Jefferson's embargo; the house passed 
through several hands and the title was finally transferred to Joseph McKean, 
professor of rhetoric and oratory at Harvard College, 1809-1818, who owned the 
place in 1814. His daughter. Amy Elizabeth, married Joseph E. Worcester (the 
lexicographer). 

After the death of Professor McKean, in 1818, there were many tenants 
in rapid succession. Edward Everett being here in 1820-1821, and in 1835 it 
came, by purchase, into possession of Judge Samuel Phillips and Prescott Fay, 
.H. C. 1798, who took an active part in all Cambridge affairs and lived here much 
of the time until his death in 1856. 

At one time, the house was occupied by Francis Dana, Jr. (son of Chief 
Justice Dana) who married Sophia, daughter of Joseph Willard, president of 
Harvard College; their daughter, Sophia, later Mrs. George Ripley, kept a girl's 
school in the house. In 1832, Daniel Davis (long solicitor-general of Massachu- 
setts), a gentleman of the old school, lived here. His daughters made "Castle 
Corners," as the house was called, famous for its hospitality. 

Judge Fay rented the house to Richard Sullivan, of Boston. While the Fays 
were in Europe in 1858, the house was occupied by Richard Sullivan, Jr. He 
brought from Maine and planted in the yard the white birch still standing 
there. The house has twice been enlarged and is now three times the 
original size. In the northwest room in 1836 Fair Harvard was written for the 
celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of Harvard College. Its author. 
Rev. Samuel Gilman, of Charleston^ S. C, a brother-in-law of Judge Fay, was 
a guest of the house on this occasion. 

RADCLIFFE COLLEGE. 

In 1885, this estate was sold by the daughter of Judge Fay to the "Society 
for the Collegiate Instruction of Women," incorporated in 1882. Professors and 



128 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

other instructors of Harvard College give the courses and in 1S94, by special act 
of the legislature, it became Radcliffe College; since then, the women receive 
at commencement, a degree equivalent to the corresponding degree conferred 
upon graduates of Harvard College. The Radcliffe degree is signed by the 
presidents of Radcliffe College and of Harvard University. 

Fay House is the administration building and also contains lecture rooms. 
Several new buildings have been added — the gymnasium, gift of Mrs. Mary 
Hcmenway, and Agassiz House, the place for social meetings of the students. It 
also contains a theatre, a lunch room and club rooms. Radcliffe College now 
owns most of the land bounded by Appian, Garden, Mason, Brattle and .Tames 
streets and the Greenleaf estate on the opposite side of Brattle street and 
Bertram Hall, with grounds on Shepard street. 

Henry Prentice, son of Thomas, married Katherine Felch, January 1728-9. 
Their daughter, Mary, became the wife of Moses Richardson and later lived 
on Holmes place. Henry, styled junior on the Records, with reference to Deacon 
Henry Prentice, built and lived in a house on the easterly side of Mason street, 
where Agassiz House now stands. This house was later occupied by Professor 
William Dandridge Peck, first professor of natural history (botany) at Harvard 
College, 1805-1822. East of this stood the only school-house in Revolutionary 
times, described on page 66, and next it the house occupied by John Prentice 
until his death in 1742, afterwards the home of Mollie Hancock, see page 67 note. 



CHRIST CHUBCH. (B and C 65.) 

Christ Church has always been one of the most familiar landmarks of Cam- 
bridge. It stands, modest and unassuming, facing the common, and is very 
little altered from its appearance in the early days of its history. Our own 
Cambridge poet, Oliver Wendell Holmes, who was born within sight of Christ 
Church, wrote of it lines that will always be associated lovingly with it, and 
which come to the mind at once as one looks at the plain little brown edifice; 

"Our ancient Church! its lowly tower 

Beneath the loftier spire 
Is shadowed when the sunset hour 

Clothes the tall shaft in fire. 
It sinks beyond the distant eye 

Long ere the glittering vane 
High wheeling in the western sky 

Has faded o'er the plain. 

"Like Sentinel and Nun, they keep 

Their vigil on the green: 
One seems to guard, and one to weep. 
The dead that lie between: 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 129 

And both roll out so full and near 
Their music's mingling waves 
They shake the grass, whose pennoned spear 
Leans o'er the narrow graves." 

After about a century of the town's existence, there had settled in Cam- 
bridge many of the faith of the Church of Eiigland, attached to its doctrine and 
worship. They longed to have a church of that communion established here, 
and accordingly made application to the venerable Society for the Propagation 
of the Gospel in Foreign Parts for assistance in this undertaking. This so- 
ciety in England existed for the purpose of helping the establishment of 
the Church of England in the English Colonies of North America. The so- 
ciety looked favorably upon the appeal of the churchmen of Cambridge, and 
granted an appropriation for the support of a missionary. The first recipient 
of this grant was Rev. East Apthorp, born in New England, but educated at 
Jesus College, Cambridge, England. 

The original subscription for building the church is dated at Boston, April 
25, 1759. The petition to the society was signed by Henry Vassall, Joseph Lee, 
John Vassall, Ralph Inman, Thomas Oliver, David Phips, Robert Temple, 
James Apthorp. The first six gentlemen, with Rev. East Apthorp, were 
chosen as the building committee. Ralph Inman was appointed treasurer, 
and it was voted by the committee and subscribers present: 

"1. That the extreme dimensions of the church, including the thickness 
of the walls, but exclusive of the chancel and tower be sixty feet in length 
and forty-five feet in breadth. 

2. That the architect be at liberty to make any alteration in the above 
dimensions of 60 x 45 feet, provided he does not enlarge the area of the 
church. 

3. That the building be of wood and covered on the outside with rough 
cast; that there be only one tier of windows and no galleries except an organ 
loft, 

4. That the expense of executing the whole building is not to exceed 500 
pounds sterling. 

5. That a letter be wrote to Mr. Harrison, of Newport, requesting a plan 
and elevation of the outside and inside, and of the pulpit and vestry of the 
church, and if Mr. Harrison approves of it, there be no steeple, only a 
tower with a belfry; and that he be informed of the dimensions of a picture 
designed for the chancel. 

6. That Mr. Phips and Mr. Inman wait on lyir. Boardman, of Cambridge, 
to know whether he will give a piece of land, and what quantity, for the 
church to be built upon." 

Mr. Boardman's land took in both sides of the Appian way, fronting on the 
common, and some arrangements were made for building the church there; 
but an adjoining piece of land one hundred feet square was finally bought of 

9 



130 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

Mr. James Reed for sixteen pounds. It formed part of the grounds belonging 
to his house, which stands on what is now Brattle street and Farwell place. 
This, with the same quantity bought of the Proprietors of the common and 
undivided lands of the town of Cambridge and taken in from the common, 
formed the church lot. The price paid to the Proprietors was thirteen 
pounds, the church also paying for the removal of the pound belonging to 
the town. The line of the common, which was curved, was thus straightened, 
the burying ground being also extended to the church line. The dimensions 
of the building proposed by the committee were adopted by the architect 
without change, but the whole cost of the church, not including the land, 
was about 1,300 pounds. The rough cast seems never to have been added. 
The architect was Mr, Peter Harrison, then residing at Newport, and who 
built the Redwood Library there, and King's Chapel, in Boston. 

Christ Church seems always to have been regarded as an edifice of superior 
elegance. The Massachusetts Magazine for July, 1792 (from which the cut 
is taken), speaks of it as "commodious and elegant." Rev. Dr. Holmes, in 
his history of Cambridge, says: "It is considered by connoisseurs in archi- 
tecture as one of the best constructed churches in New England." Though 
our ideas in regard to church architecture have changed since those early 
days, one must always be struck with the good proportions of the building 
and its air of simple dignity. 

The opening of the church took place on Thursday, October 15, 1761. The 
persistent tradition that the frame timbers were brought from England 
seems to have no foundation in fact. The great pillars of the interior were 
brought by water down the river. They were bored to prevent warping, and 
then turned, probably at the turner's shop which stood at the time at the 
corner of Waterhouse street and Concord avenue. The stones of the foundation 
were probably brought as ballast in trading vessels, as there are records of 
money paid for the removal of stones from a vessel from Quebec. The cor- 
ner-stone bore a Latin inscription, and Sir Francis Bernard, then governor of 
the Province of Massachusetts Bay, was present at the laying of it, and un- 
doubtedly a stately ceremony was made of the event. 

A fine organ was secured for the church, built by an eminent London 
builder, and also a bell, the gift of Captain Edward Cahill, of London, was 
received. Other gifts were forthcoming. Mrs. Grizzell Apthorp, mother of 
the rector, gave a large christening basin of solid silver, finely chased and 
moulded. Mrs. Mary Faneuil gave a Bible, and Thomas Lechmere two large 
prayer books, which are still in good condition. 

It would not be difficult to reconstruct the appearance of church and con- 
gregation in those early years before the Revolution — the old-fashioned square 
pews with their decorous occupants in laced coats, white silk stockings and 
small clothes, the eager young rector in the great wine-glass shaped pulpit at 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 131 

the head of the main aisle overshadowed by a carved sounding board; outside 
the bare expanse of the common, with its straggling roads leading to Men- 
otomiy and Watertown, the burying ground close at hand, with the little 
group of college buildings beyond. Most of the proprietors of the church 
lived on Brattle street, then known as "Church Row," from the creed of its 
dwellers, and later as "Tory Row," from their hated loyalty. 

FIRSrr RECTOR OF CHRIST CHURCH. 

The rector built for himself a house which perhaps more than anything 
else brought the suspicion and antagonism of the Puritan population upon the 
little congregation. It was a little to the south of the college buildings, and 
stands today a noble specimen of colonial architecture, even though the 
vicissitudes of its life have done much to deface it. It was dubbed, half in 
fear and half in ridicule, the "Bishop's Palace," which name clung to it for 
many years. One cannot be surprised at the political prejudice roused 
against the church and rector. The Church of England was gaining a posi- 
tion of influence. Popular feeling ran so high against this incursion of the 
very religion that New England Puritans had left their homes to avoid, and 
such dread was felt of the possibility of an Established Church being forced 
upon the colonists, that Kev. Mr. Apthorp felt called upon to defend his posi- 
tion, that of his congregation and of the society which had granted them help, 
by writing a pamphlet on "Considerations on the Institutions and Conduct of 
the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel." This was eagerly seized up- 
on by Rev. Dr. Mayhew, then minister of the West Church, in Boston. 
There followed a pamphlet war, in which the young rector was no match for 
his skilled opponent. His position became a trying one, and the end of it was 
his retirement to England ostensibly for other reasons, but probably because 
his life here became intolerable to a man of sensitive refinement and mildness. 
It is only fair to add that when a bishopric really was offered to Rev. Mr. 
Apthorp in later years, the honor was declined. 

The silver flagon, chalice, and paten, with the arms of William and Mary, 
presented through the royal governor to King's Chapel, Boston, in 1G96, came 
into the possession of Christ Church in 1772. The new governor. Governor 
Hutchinson, sent over by George III, came, as was not unusual, with a 
present from the king of communion plate and damask pulpit hangings. 
These he presented to King's Chapel, and received in return, as not being 
so fine, the silver given by William and Mary, two flagons, two chalices and 
two patens. These he gave in equal proportions to the church at Newburyport 
and to Cambridge. During the Revolutionary War, the Christ Church silver 
was in the care of Dr. Parker, of Trinity Church, and in 17S7 was claimed 
by Dr. Bulflnch, the warden, as the property of King's Chapel. Dr. Parker 
proved a trusty and valiant guardian; he stoutly maintained that the 



132 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAlMBRipGE 

silver was the unalienable property of the Cambridge church, and it was fi- 
nally restored, and is at the present day in its keeping. 

GENERAL. WASHINGTON IN CHRIST CHURCH. 

Ml-. Apthorp left for England in 1761, and in the summer of 1766 the parish 
obtained the consent of Rev. Winwood Sarjeant to serve as their minister, 
and for seven years the church enjoyed peace and quiet. Then came the 
troubled days of the Revolution. There was perhaps no church in the country 
more completely broken up. Of all the subscribers and pew-owners not a 
name appears on the records after the Revolution but those of John Pigeon, 
Esq., and Judge Joseph Lee. The former espoused the patriotic side;* the latter 
was a Loyalist, but, being a quiet man and moderate iu his opinions, remained 
unmolested. During a part of his ministry, Mr. Sarjeant occupied the 
Waterhouse house facing the common, which is still standing near Concord 
avenue, though somewhat enlarged. The house in which he lived at the be- 
ginning of the Revolutionary troubles, and which was ransacked by a mob in 
September, 1774, stood on the Observatory grounds, nearly opposite the end of 
Linnaean street. At the time of the Battle of Bunker Hill, Captain Chester's 
company from Wethersfleld, Connecticut, seems to have been quartered in the 
church building. No doubt, the window weights and organ pipes were found 
very convenient to be moulded into bullets, but there was much wanton de- 
struction besides. On Monday, December 11, Mrs. "Washington arrived In 
Cambridge. On the last Sunday of that year the church was used for divine 
service at her request. In a letter of Colonel William Palfrey to his wife, giv- 
en in Sparks' American Biography, he says: "I yesterday, at the request of 
Mrs. "Washington, performed divine service at the Church in Cambridge. 
There were present the general and lady, Mrs. Gates, Mrs. Custis and a num- 
ber of others, and they were pleased to compliment me on my performance. 
I made a form of prayer instead of the prayer for the king, which was much 
approved. I gave it to Mrs. Washington at her desire, and did not keep a 
copy, but will get one and send it to you." A tablet to Colonel Palfrey has 
been placed in the church, on the eastern wall. It is probable that service 
was held in the church on other occasions while the headquarters of the army 
were at Cambridge. There has always been a tradition that General Wash- 
ington was in the habit of worshipping there, and when the church was re- 
paired in 1825, a pew which he occupied was pointed out by a person who 
had been present. No written evidence, however, other than that already 
given, has been found. On the day of the service above mentioned. Gener- 
al Washington wrote to the president of the Continental Congress respecting 



•John rigcon was commissary-general in the Continental army during the 
siege of Boston. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 133 

the better provision for chaplains in the army. On Sunday, December 3, 1775, 
he attended public worship in the parish church (Dr. Appleton's), when Rev. 
Abiel L<eonard preached to the troops, and on Sunday, March 17, 1776, a few- 
hours after the enemy retreated from Boston, at the same church, "Rev. Jlr. 
Leonard preached a sermon in the audience of his excellency, the general, and 
others of distinction, well adapted to the interesting event of the day." 

"With the departure of the continental army, quiet came to Cambridge for 
more than a year and a half, but in November, 1777, after the surrender of 
General Burgoyne, British and Hessian troops were quartered in Cambridge 
as convention prisoners. During this occupation, the shooting of an Eng- 
lish officer, under a misapprehension by an American sentry, brought a fresh 
access of misfortune to the church. The affair caused great excitement, and 
the funeral on June 19, 1778, was attended by all the British and German offi- 
cers, and the body of the young lieutenant was interred in the Vassall 
tomb beneath the church. It was on this occasion that the most severe dam- 
age was done to the building of any it received during the war. An eye-wit- 
ness says: "The Americans seized the opportunity of the church being open, 
which had been shut since the commencement of hostilities, to plunder, ran- 
sack and deface everything they could lay their hands on, destroying the 
pulpit, reading desk and communion table, and, ascending the organ loft, 
destroyed the bellows and broke all the pipes of a very handsome instru- 
ment." 

Dr. Hoppin, in his historical sketch of the church, says: "Christ Church 
was left for many years in a melancholy and desecrated condition, the doors 
shattered and all the windows broken out, exposed to rain and storms and 
every sort of depredation, its beauty gone, its sanctuary defiled, the wind 
howling through its deserted aisles, and about its stained and decaying walls; 
the whole building being a disgi'ace instead of an ornament to the town." 
No effort appears to have been made for the renewal of divine worship till 
the beginning of 1790, when a subscription was raised and the church again 
opened on July 14, 1790. For the next thirty years, there was no settled 
clergyman, but lay readers, many of them tutors or students in the universi- 
ty, with occasional services fromi visiting clergymien. It is interesting to note 
that among these lay readers was Jonathan Mayhew "Wainwright, a grandson 
of the man who had attacked Christ Church in its early history. 

In 1800, a service was held in compliance with a vote of congress "recom- 
mending the twenty-second day of February to be observed by citizens of the 
United States to commemorate the death of General George Washington," 
and Mr. "William Jenks was instructed to deliver a discourse .... "adapted 
to the solemn and mournful occasion." In 1804, another effort was made to 
repair the church, but the poverty of the parish was so great that little was 
attempted in the way of service, save on Christmas Day. Then the little 



134 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

congregation would struggle to assemble a choir, decorate the church and se- 
cure a minister for the day. Outside of Christ Church, Christmas was then 
unknown in Cambridge. 

In 1824, so wretched was the plight of the church that other churchmen 
in Massachusetts came to the rescue, and even Harvard College contribut- 
ed $300 to its restoration. In its darkest days Harvard students had composed 
a large part of the congregation. By 1857, its fortunes had so greatly im- 
proved that an enlargement was found necessary, and 23 feet were added 
to the length of the structure, exactly on the original lines, planned by the 
architect of the building. In 1860, a chime of thirteen bells was procured by 
subscription at a cost of five thousand dollars. 

To sum up, in Dr. Hoppin's words at the conclusion of his historical sketch 
in 1S57 (to which and Mr. S. F. Batchelder's account of Christ Church, both 
of which are unfortunately out of print, the present writer is greatly indebt- 
ed): "Such is an imperfect sketch of the history of Christ Church, Cambridge. 
Begun under highly favorable circumstances, with every promise of the most 
flourishing success, yet .speedily checked in its prosperity; built by a band of 
gentlemen, whose very names and families have almost entirely disappeared 
from amongst us, of whom, indeed, little remains in Cambridge but their es- 
tates, their church, and their fame for loyalty and honor; twice in a deserted 
and ruinous condition, yet through the Providence of God happily restored, and 
the offering of prayer and praise renewed at its altar; carefully watched 
over and preserved by a little company of Christians to whom the liturgy and 
order of the church were dear; gradually increasing in the numbers of its 
worshippers and now considerably strengthened and enlarged; long may it 
stand as a monument of the past, and serve for the furtherance of pure 
religion and the immortal interests of truth and peace, to the glory of the 
Redeemer, whoee Name it bears!" E. M. H. 

THE BURYING GROUND. 

"Go where the ancient pathway guides. 

See where our sires laid down 
Their smiling babes, their cherished brides. 

The patriarchs of the town; 
Hast thou a tear for bui'ied love? 

A sigh for transient power? 

All that a century left above, 

Go, read it in an hour!" 

— O. W. HOLMES. 

Right in the heart of Old Cambridge, opposite the common, is the small, but 
historically interesting God's Acre. Here, mingling with the dust, lie the 
bones of the earliest settlers, the men who made Cambridge — of a governor of 
the colony, judges, presidents of Harvard, professors, and men of learning and 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 135 

of wealth. Here too were laid to rest their children, those who could not bear 
the rude blasts of the New England winter, or who were swept off by the dis- 
tempers, for which no cure had been found. Here, too, rest those hopeful 
youths, who were cut off by death while studying at Harvard, such as Thomas 
Spear, "Singulari Temperantia Sobrietate et Humilitate Juvenis: Moribus 
Castus Scelerisque purus: Interger innocuusque vixit," who died aged 16, Sep- 
tember 27, 1723; or Mr. "Winslow Warren, of Plymouth, "A Young Gentleman 
of great Hopes, who died March ye 9th, A. D. 1747, Aetatis 15"; 
or Noah Merrick, drowned in the river in his 17th year, In 
1762, "optimae spei Juvenis," says the inscription on his 
B-tone, and the same words of commendation are used for Charles Cutter, 
son of Dr. Ammi Ruhamah Cutter, of New Hampshire, dead in his 16th 
year, "Lacu Cantabrigiensi casu submersi," in 1779. When educated men 
were so badly needed, it must have been doubly hard to spare those who 
had finished their studies, and were beginning their life work, like Jonathan 
Remington, 3rd, who died in 1738, two years after his graduation, and 
John Holyoke, son of the president, who pased away two years after he took 
his degree, in 1753. 

The first mention of this graveyard bears date of January 4, 1635, when 
it was ordered at town meeting "that the Burying Place be paled in." Just 
one hundred years later, the town and college built a substantial stone 
'wall on the gidc by the road at a cost of 150 pounds, the college paying 
twenty-five pounds, as it stands in the records, "Because the College has used 
and expects to make use of the Burying Place, as Providence gives occas- 
sion for it." And Providence did "give occasion" many times for the 
honored dead of the university to find here a rest from their labors. The first 
president, Henry Dunster, must have loved the quiet spot, for his dying re- 
quest, in 1659, was that he might be brought fromi Scituate to lie here. 
Charles Chauncey, the second president, was buried here, in 1671. Here the 
fourth president, Urian Oakes, was laid to rest ten years later, and, in 
1724, John Leverett, eighth president, was buried under the large tomb, that 
bears his coat of arms. Benjamin Wadsworth, who died in 1737, Edward 
Holyoke, 1769, Joseph Willard, 1804, and Samuel Webbei-, 1810, complete the 
roll of the presidents of Harvard who lie here. The long Latin inscriptions 
of Presidents Dunster, Willard and Webber were written by C. Folsom, Esq., 
at the request of the corporation, in 1846. Here Henry Flynt, Esq., who was 
tutor for fifty-five years and fellow for sixty-one, rested from his labors, 
in 1760. Professor Edward Wigglesworth, first Hollis professor, was laid 
here in 1765. John Wadsworth, a descendant of John and Priscilla Alden, 
■ tutor and fellow, who died of small-pox in 1777, Thomas Marsh, tutor and 
librarian, 17S0, and Samuel Shapleigh, librarian, who died in 1800, all sleep 
here. Nor should we forget John Taylor, who died on September 6, 1683, 



136 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

aged 73 years, "A liover of Learning, a faithful Serv^ant of Harvard Col- 
ledg. About 40 years." He it was who was sent to England to escort across 
the ocean the Rev. Urian Oakes. Paige says he was the butler of the college. 

The entrance for foot passengers is close to the First Parish Church and 
not far from it is a large slab tomb to John Stedman, merchant of Cam- 
bridge for nearly fifty years. He sailed from Kngland with the Rev. Josse 
and Mrs. Glover and their family of five children. Rev. Mr. Glover dying 
on the voyage, left, by will, "fifty pounds to my antient faythful servant, 
John Stedman," who was then thirty-six years old. He brought the print- 
ing press and stock of merchandise, and his master's famdly all safely to 
Cambridge, where he served the widow until she married President Dunster; 
then he set up a shop on the east of Brattle square, near Mount Auburn 
street. In 1658, he was granted the monopoly of trading in furs in Cam- 
bridge. His business as merchant did not occupy all of his time. He was 
selectman sixty years, and county treasurer for twenty-six. For six years, 
he was ensign in the Cambridge militia, and served as cornet under Cap- 
tain Davis in the expedition against Ninigret, in 1654. His wife, Alice, died 
In 1690, and three years later, he, too, fell asleep, aged ninety-two. He left 
no son, but his three daughters all married distinguished men, one hav- 
ing had four husbands before her father's death, and having survived 
them all. 

Most of the early settlers of Cambridge were buried here. Amiong those 
whose resting places are not marked are: Rev. Thomas Shepard and his 
wife, Joanna Hooker, Rev. Jonathan Mitchell and his wife, Margaret 
Shepard; Rev. Nathaniel Gookin, who tradition says wag buried 
under a brick monument crowned by a stone slab, but the inscription 
was gone in 1800; probably it was in the southeastern part of the yard where 
his wife's stone still stands; also, Roger Harlakenden, the friend and pro- 
tector of Shepard, Elijah Corlett, the famous schoolmaster, Stephen Daye 
and Samuel Green, the earliest printers— and only this spring has a stone with 
inscription been erected to Gregory Stone, deacon of the church and rep- 
resentative of Cambridge in 1638. 

Among the earliest stones are those of Anne Errington, or Harrington (Ann 
Erinton on the stone), the oldest now standing, who died on Christmas Day, 
1653, and of Major Daniel Gookin, who departed this life in 1687. 

The freestone slab resting on five fluted pillars, that stands In the fore- 
ground of our view of the old burying ground Is the Vassall tomb, and under 
it lie Colonel John Vassal, who died in 1747, his first wife, and others of the 
family. Many more of the name are buried in the tomb under Christ Church. 
There is no Inscription on this slab, simply the vase and 
the sun (vas and sol), the heraldic bearings of the 
family. A little beyond it is a grray stone altar tomb, surrounded by an 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 137 

iron railing, dedicated to the memory, of "Thomas L.ee, a Native of Great 
Britain, but for many years a citizen of America." The long inscription 
praises him greatly for his "liabits of mercantile attention and industry. 
After having acquired, with the strictest integrity and honor, an ample 
fortune, he retired from) the busy scenes of life, and employed his time, and 
applied his income to useful and rational purposes." He died on May 26, 
1797, in the seventieth year of his age. Nothing is said about his wife, but 
tradition has pointed out this tomb as that of Lady Lee, about whom the 
poet Henry "W. Longfellow wrote in his "Churchyard in Cambridge": 

"At her feet and at her head 
Lies a slave to attend the dead, 
But their dust is as white as hers." 

Jonathan Belcher, born in January, 1681, graduated at Harvard College in 
1699, was governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire from 1730 to 1741, 
and governor of New Jersey from 1747 till his death, which took place at 
Elizabeth town, New Jersey, August 1, 1757. Mr. William Thaddeus Harris, 
in his "Epitaphs from the Old Burying Ground in Cambridge," writes: "It 
appears that Governor Belcher and his cousin. Judge Remington, were ardent 
friends, so much so as to desire to be buried in one grave. Judge Remdng- 
ton dying first, his body was committed to the earth. The governor's remains, 
having been brought here from New Jersey, were deposited in a tomb, con- 
structed a short time before, agreeably to hisi orders, contiguous to that of 
Judge Trowbridge; the body of Judge Remington was disinterred, and placed 
by his side." It may be well to observe that these tombs, viz., that of Gov- 
ernor Belcher, and that of Judge Trowbridge (now known as the Dana tomb), 
are near the present gateway of the burying-ground. In that of Judge 
Trowbridge rest the remains of Washington Allston; of Chief Justice Francis 
Dana; of the poet Richard H. Dana and others of the family. 

Both near the road and along the further side are mound tombs, with 
the names of many old Cambridge families, and underneath the ground 
are others, of which there is now no trace. There are, in all, nearly twenty 
of the altar-shaped tombs — in some the slabs are of slate, others of free- 
stone. Where there is no name there was once a leaden tablet that was taken 
to cast bullets for the soldiers at Bunker Hill. Some have foundations 
of brick, others of stone, but most of the resting places are indicated by 
the usual upright slate slab, rounded at the top, some of surprising thick- 
ness. Many of them are ornamented with a winged scull, on one side of 
which is cut "Memento Mori," and on the other, "Fugit hora." Here and 
there the visitor is reminded that 

"Death Is a debt to nature due 
As I have paid it, so must you," 



138 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 



but this occurs far less frequently than, in most of the old graveyards, 
and we have, as is meet near the great institution of learning, many long 
Latin inscriptions. 

OLD MILE STONE. (See Title Page.) 

The old mile-stone formerly stood on the east side of the first court house, 
which was in the middle of the present Harvard square. 

On the stone is cut "8 miles to Boston, A. I., 1737." Of course, this was 
by the old road througli Brookline and Roxbury. 'The stone was cut and 
placed by Abraham Ireland, as the initials indicate. In some digging by 
the town in Harvard square, or perhaps in the removal of the old market 
house, about 1830 (see print of meeting house), the stone, no longer needed, 
became buried with the rubbish, and, in digging again to build the hay 
scales, it came to sight, was carried to the city stables, with other old stones, 
to be broken up for the streets. 

William A. Saunders became interested to find it, called on the superintend- 
ent of streets, was successful, and, after a time, he promised to save it, and 
place it as near the old spot as was possible. The front of the then law 
school (Dane Hall) was fixed upon, and there it was placed, but after- 
wards removed to the corner of the burying ground. Mr. Ireland died Jan- 
uary 24, 1753, aged eighty-one. On his gravestone is cut 

"God Brought him from a Distant Land 

And Did preserve by his Mighty hand 

God Blest hin> with old Age 

And a great Posterity; 

Pray God to give them Grace 

To fly to Christ, 

To prepare them for Great Eternity. 

By a Relation." 

The following are the names of the Revolutionary soldiers whose graves 
are known and are decorated and marked by Washington Elm Chapter, 
D. R.: 



LIEUTENANT .70HN WATSON, D 
2nd LIEUT. JOSHUA WALTON, 
SERGT. JOSEPH BATES. 
TORREY HANCOCK, 
NATHANIEL PRENTISS, 
ABEL MOORE, 
JOHN STEARNS, 
DAVID FROST, 
STEPHEN STODDARD, 
THOMAS GODDARD, 
WILLIAM MANNING, 
SAMUEL PRENTISS, 
EDWARD FILLEBROWN, 
JOSEPH TAYLOR, 



ed 1823, Aged 83 



1783, 
1803, 
1778, 
1817, 
1794, 
1775, 
1787, 
1820, 
1830, 
1804, 
1795, 
1798, 
1775, 



39 

33 

39 
23 
30 
79 

49 
37 

18 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 139 

Two slaves who fought at Lexington lie here in the tombs of 
their owners— Neptune Frost and Cato Stedman. It is much to be wished 
that if other Revolutionary soldiers lie here, their descendants will let 
it be known. Near Christ Church is a low monument marking the spot 
where, a few years ago, were buried the bones of those who were wounded 
at Bunker Hill and died at Elmwood, then a hospital. Their names are 
forgotten, but their bravery is remembered. 

In 1870, the city erected a simple shaft to mark the burial place of six 
Minute Men killed at Lexington. The inscription is: 

"Erected by the City, A. D., 1870, 

to the memory of 

John Hicks— William Marcy— Moses Richardson. 

Buried here 

Jason Russell— Jabez Wyman— Jason Winship 

Buried in Menotomy 

Men of Cambridge 

Who fell in defense of the liberty of the people 

April 19, 1775 

Oh what a glorious morning is this." 

L. F. P. 



MOORE-HILL-DEACON MOORE- JENNISON HOUSE; SHEPARD 
MEMORIAL CHURCH (B and C61). 

In 1642, the land on the southwest corner of Garden and Mason streets, where 
now stands the Shepard Memorial Church, was the estate of Golden Moore, who 
married his next-door neighbor, Widow Joanna Champney, before 1643. Later, 
he removed to Billerica, where he died, aged eighty-nine years, 1698. His 
daughter, Hannah, married John Hastings and resided on Ash street. 

When Abraham Hill bought the Blowers estate, this land at the corner of 
Garden and Mason streets was part of the estate purchased. Hill probably 
built the house long known as the Jennison house and shown in our illustration. 
His son, Aaron Hill, executor, leased the house to Josiah Moore, a carpenter, 
who was elected a deacon of the First Church in 1805, and married (1) in 1768, 
Mary, daughter of Seth Hastings, (2) in 1782, Nancy, daughter of Owen War- 
land. After living here a year, Deacon Moore bought the house and an acre 
and a half of land, November 24, 1784. He was assessor, and overseer of the 
poor for many years, selectman in 1814, and sergeant in Captain Thatcher's com- 
pany of minute men. He died suddenly May 1, 1814, aged sixty-seven years. 
There is a tradition that Dr. Warren slept in this house the week before he fell 
at Bunker Hill. 

The next noted occupant of the house was Dr. Timothy Lindall Jennison, a 
member of the Watertown family, whose wife was a daughter of Jonathan 
Belcher, Jr., chief justice and lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia and grand- 



140 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

daughter of Jouatbau Belcher, governor of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and 
New Jersey. Mrs. Jennisou died in Cambridge in 1848, aged eighty-eight. Dr. 
Jennison was selectman in 1795, 1806, and 1817 and was very prominent in settling 
the affairs of the Proprietors of Cambridge, descendants of the early settlers. 
He is described as a physician of the old school in wig and small clothes, who, 
with his contemporaries. Dr. Gamage and Dr. Waterhouse, acted as medical 
advisers to the good folk of Cambridge. His daughter, Miss Jennison, for many 
years kept in this house a dame school, attended by the daughters and small 
sons of the best families. Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson was one of 
her pupils and many whom she taught to read still remember her. The house 
was owned for some years by Samuel Batchelder, whose coachman lived in it. 
Mr. Batchelder sold it in 1869, and the house was removed and the Shepard 
Memorial Church immediately erected in its place. 

One cannot pass near the Common without seeing that ancient weather cock, 
the vane now on the steeple of this church, but which from 1721 to 1869 was on 
the spire of the "New Brick" Meeting house, Hanover street. It is said that 
Rev. Cotton Mather preached the first sermon under it in 1721. It was made 
by Deacon Shem Drowne, who also made the grasshopper on Faneuil Hall and 
the Indian formerly on the Province house, now at the rooms of the Massachu- 
setts Historical Society. 

The vane was first taken down for repairs in 1785. The bill — still in existence 
— was "Repairs and gold leaf, £7-15-4." It was taken down the second time in 
1822, third in 1832, fourth in 1844, fifth in 1858, after which it remained in place 
until 8 o'clock P. M., September 8, 1869— the day of the great gale, when the 
entire spire fell. Falling to the northeast, it cnished through the roof of an 
adjoining house, and the vane parted company with the shaft on which it had 
turned 148 years. It was badly broken and crushed. The society owning it had 
it repaired and regilded, and kept inside the building as a relic. Appreciating 
it as such, Mr. William A. Saunders bought it, and it was placed in its present 
position June 28, 1873. 

Inside the vane were found papers wrapped in lead, but not being air tight, 
had decayed and could not be read. There were also two flattened bullets, prob- 
ably shot in sport by the British soldiers when they were encamped on Copp's 
Hill, near by. 

The rooster measures, from bill to tip of tail, 5 feet, 4 inches; stands 5 feet, 
5 inches high, and the body is 8 or 9 inches thick. Its estimated weight is 200 
pounds. 

Profiting by the loss of the old papers, a sealed copper box containing papers 
and a history of the vane was placed within the body, and after having witnessed 
all the events in Boston's history from only 91 years after its settlement through 
five generations, it was placed in its present position. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 141 

PRENTICE-BATES HOUSE. 

In 1672, Solomon Prentice, son of Henry, "the emigrant," bought a house and 
land on the westerly side of the common, the original Prentice homestead (nearly 
opposite the present Waterhouse street), on which estate, near the close of his 
life, he erected a new house. His son Henry, who married Elizabeth Rand, in- 
herited the homestead. He was deacon in Dr. Appleton's church, 1741-1774, but 
resigned on account of his great age. When the Revolution began and Cam- 
bridge became the headquarters of the continental army. Deacon Prentice 
retired to the home of his son. Rev. Joshua Prentice, in Holliston, where he 
died October IS, 1778. His wife had died April 7, 1775. It is thought that this is 
the house occupied in the nineteenth century by the Misses Betsey and Persia 
Bates. 

GARDEN STREET. 

Garden street was the home of many branches of the Prentice and Wyeth 
families, and the land in the vicinity of the Harvard College observatory and 
botanic garden was early occupied by the settlers. 

Gregory Stone, probably a brother to Samuel, who was one of the first 
ministers in Cambridge, was here as early as 1637. lu 1638, he purchased a house 
and five acres, on the westerly side of Garden street, between the botanic 
ararden and Concord avenue, which became his homestead. He was a farmer 
r.iid was a representative for Cambridge in 1638, a deacon of the church, and died 

in 1672. His wife, Lydia, was the widow^ of Cooper, and mother of the 

first John Cooper, who was prominent in Cambridge affairs. His son, John, 
inherited the homestead. 

In 1646, David Fiske removed to Cambridge from Watertown and resided on 
the northerly side of Linnaean street, being the southeasterly corner of the pres- 
ent botanic garden. He was a wheelwright, but much employed in public service, 
especially as a surveyor of land. He married Lydia, daughter of the second 
wife of Gregory Stone and sister of John Cooper. Fiske sold this estate in 
1660 to Joseph Daniel, who removed to Medfield before 1662. In 1807 the botanic 
garden was established. In the house connected with the garden, lived Thomas 
Nutall, botanist and ornithologist, second professor of botany at Harvard, 
1822-1834; to this house in 1842 came Professor Asa Gray, whose text-books of 
botany introduced American flora to the world. He will long be remembered 
and revered, as well as loved, by Cambridge people. His widow lives in the 
house, and the adjoining herbarium perpetuates his name. 

WATERHOUSE STREET. 

About 1724, Waterhouse street was laid out, forming the present northern 
boundary of the common. A cooper's shop (B and CGO) stood here near the 



142 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

corner of Garden street and close to the Wliitefield Elm. The only old bouse 
now standing on Waterhouse street is the 

WILLIAM VASSALL- WATERHOUSE- WARE HOUSE (B and C59). 

We do not know when or by whom it was built but its low-studded rooms, 
fine wainscoting and quaint cupboards show its antiquity more than does the 
exterior. 

William Vassal!, son of Major Leonard Vassall, and brother of Colonel John, 
senior, and Henry Vassall, lived here. He was born in the West Indies in 1715 
and graduated at Harvard in 1733; married (1) Ann Davis, by whom he had 
eleven children; she died in 1760, and he married (2) Margaret Hubbard, lived 
in Jamaica until 1748, then in this house. He was high sheriff of Middlesex, 
and in 1774, mandamus councillor. 

John Rowe, in his diary, records that William Vassall and all his family 
Bailed for England May 10, 1775, with Timothy Fitch and Thomas Brattle. 
Vassall never returned to this country, but was among the Loyalists banished 
by the legislature in 1778. He was still much interested in King's Chapel, Boston, 
and protested, in 1785, against the change of the liturgy and ordination of James 
Freeman. He died at Battersea Rise, England, May 8, 1800. It is said that the 
Rev. Winwood Sargeant lived here while supplying the pulpit of Christ Church. 

After the Revolution, Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse and his wife, Louisa, daughter 
of Thomas Lee, of Salem and Cambridge, and grand-niece of Judge Joseph Lee, 
were the owners and occupants of the house. Dr. Waterhouse, born in New- 
port, R. I., was educated at the expense of Abraham Redwood, after whona 
the Library at Newport was named. He introduced vaccination into this 
country. His descendants still own a tea set, of the so-called Lowestoft ware, 
said to have been sent by "Dr. Jenner of England to the Jenner of America." 
A cow standing in a meadow, surrounded by a gilt line, is painted on each piece. 
Dr. Waterhouse was appointed professor of the theory and practice of medicine 
at Harvard in 1783, a position which he held until 1812. In 1786, he received the 
degree of LL. D. at Harvard. His daughter married William Ware, H. C. 1816, 
the author of "Zenobia," who died in 1852. The Ware family occupied the house 
until the death of Miss Ware in 1903. 

FOLLEN-WALCOTT HOUSE. 

The house numbered eleven on Waterhouse street (now owned and occupied 
by Dr. II. P. Walcott) was built by Rev. Charles Follen, who taught German at 
Harvard 1830-1835 and who was lost in the burning steamer "Lexington" on 
Long Island Sound, when on his way to take charge of the Unitarian society in 
East Lexington in 1840. After this, the house came into possession of Pay- 
master Todd, United States Navy, and here Professor Joseph Winlock edited 
the Nautical Almanac. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 143 

OLD TAVERN-NICHOLLS-GLOVER HOUSE. 

Research has so far failed to reveal by whom and when the old tavern which 
stood iicre was built, but it was probably soon after the turnpike to Cambridge 
Farms (Lexington) and Concord came into use. Mr. John Holmes called it the 
Red Lion Inn, and it is possible that it bore that name until the Revolution, or 
later, and that the old red barn on the Percival Green lot, Holmes place, was the 
stable to the inn, for, Paige says, Abel Moore, brother of Deacon Josiah, kept a 
tavern at the corner of North avenue (now Massachusetts) and Holmes place 
which may have been this one. Moore married Sarah, daughter of Owen War- 
land, October 16, 1776, and died January 2, 1794; his widow married Israel Porter. 

Later, this inn was called Bush Tavern, and after it ceased to be used as 
a house of public entertainment, was the property of a Mr. Nicholls. Here the 
late William Augustus Saunders was born, in ISIS. In 1833, a Mr. Parker occu- 
pied it. It was bought by the late Henry R. Glover, who had the house removed 
to Wendell street, and built the present house, still occupied by his family. 

Between Waterhouse street and Holmes place, after the Revolution, stood a 
sign post, pointing to Lexington, surmounted by a gilt eagle; this may be dis- 
tinguished in the illustration of Cambridge common. 

M. B. P. and M. I. J. G, 

MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE. 

Of the many old houses on the road to Meuotomy, long called North (now Mas- 
sachusetts) avenue, only two remain; one, now standing on the corner of Garfield 
street, said to have been a tavern, but now altered beyond all recognition; and 
one — the Fitch House — near Cedar street. 

On the easterly side of the avenue, nearly opposite Waterhouse street, was the 
house and one-fourth acre of land, bought by John Nutting, carpenter, in 1761, 
which estate he mortgaged to John Walton, of Reading, in 1770. In the Revolu- 
tion, Nutting took the part of the king and was proscribed by the Act of 1778. 
Walton's executor took possession of the estate in 1786, and it became the resi- 
dence of Jolin Walton, who was elected deacon in 1792, and held otSce until his 
death, at the age of eighty-one, in 1S23. 

An old cellar beyond this, indicated another house, beyond which was a Dickson 
house, said to have been built from the timbers of the old barracks on the 
common. 

The estate of Nathaniel Jarvis and .Judge Wendell came next, and then the an- 
cient house of tlie Bowers family. George Lowers came to Cambridge from Ply- 
mouth, soon after 1639; he was the father of Benanuel, who married Elizabeth 
Dunster, called by President Dunster "cousin." George Bowers died in 1656, and 
the house was left to his widow and son, Jerathmeel, who sold it, in 1684, to .John 
Cooper, Jr., and removed to Chelmsford, in which town he was a prominent cit- 



144 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

izen and its representative to tlie general court. John Cooper, Jr., died February 
12, 1736, and the estate was divided between his widow, Sarah, grandson, John 
Cooper, daughter, Elizabeth, and granddaughter, Anna Carter. On, this side of 
the avenue, opposite Linnaean street also stood the house of Deacon John Cooper. 
It remained in the family for three generations and was sold in 1730 to Ebenezer 
Frost. 

The next house on the easterly side of the "turnpike" was built by Gilbert 
Crackbone, before 1670 (near the present Roseland street). The house, with its 
small windows with diamond-shaped panes, faced south after the custom of the 
times; its gable toward the road and the roof sloping nearly to the ground on the 
north. Deacon Gideon Frost sold his Kirkland street house and moved into this 
one about 1763. At the old curbed well, which long retained its sweep and bucket, 
the British soldiers drank on their way to Lexington. Neptune or Nipton Frost, 
as he was called, a slave of the deacon's and a drummer boy in the continental 
army, died here and was buried in his master's tomb in the old burying ground. 

The Goddard family owned the next estate. Benjamin Goddard, carpenter, who 
resided at the southwest corner of Mount Auburn and Holyoke streets, about 
1712, removed to this location opposite Porter's Hotel; later, his sons, John and 
Thomas, occupied it. The latter, a carpenter, inherited the homestead which was 
then in the territory called Charlestown, now Cambridge. Benjamin, son ot 
Thomas, was a wheelwright, and resided on the old homestead, at the easterly 
corner of the turnpike and Beech street. His brother, Nathaniel, resided on 
the westerly corner of the turnpike and Beech street. Stephen Goddard, grand- 
son of Benjamin, the original owner of the estate, and son of John and Eliza- 
beth (Frost) Goddard, was baptized in 1741. He was a minute man in Captain 
Thatcher's company. Some of the wounded Continentals on April 19th were 
brought into the Goddard house, whicli stood on the corner of Beech street. 

The land now occupied by Porter's Hotel (long the resort of the students), and 
the bank was, in the latter part of the eighteenth century, owned by the God- 
dards. Thomas Goddard, brother of Benjamin and Nathaniel, was a black- 
smith and occupied the estate. He died in 1830, and his son, Daniel, the last 
of the name to live there, died unmarried in 1836. 

Near by was the house of Nathaniel Prentice, born in 1743, son of Jonas and 
Mercy (Peirce) Prentiss. He and his wife, Abigail Logan, planted the elms 
which grew to great size and shaded the house. Nathaniel was a chaise maker. 
Very early in the morning of April 19. 1775, he was aroused by the cry, "The 
red coats have gone up and no time must be lost"; he threw his watch on to the 
bed, told his wife to take the children to the Prentice house on Garden street 
(where the botanic garden now is) and joined Captain Thatcher's company on its 
way to Lexington. He died in 1817. 



I 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 145 

DICKSON-GODDARD-FITCH HOUSE. 

Near the east corner of Massachusetts avenue and Cedar street, opposite the 
car stable, stands a very old house, whose low roof and old-fashioned windows 
attract the attention of the sight-seer on liis way to Arlington. Cedar street was 
laid out by the early settlers that they might get to the swamps and pastures. 
It was called Kidder's lane, and is very near where the Central Massachusetts 
Railroad crosses Massachusetts avenue, just outside our key map. 

Inside the house the ceilings are low and still show the heavy beams; the parti- 
tion walls are of brick, which may be two centuries old, but the old chimneys 
have been torn down and the fire-places filled up. Mr. Abel Fitch, of the old 
Bedford family of that name, came here to live nearly fifty years ago, and 
traces the ownership of the house back to 1853 when Nathan Robbins bought 
the estate of which this is a part, from the sons of Eunice Goddard. In the deed 
of sale, it is described as a "homestead of about 5 acres, bounded northeasterly by 
the great road leading from West Cambridge to the Colleges; westerly by Kid- 
der's Lane," etc. Elsewhere it is said to be on the road leading from Por- 
ter's Tavern to "West Cambridge, then running to the road leading to the old 
race-course. 

Eunice Dickson was the daughter of Henry Dickson by his second wife, Sarah 
Cook. She married, in 1806, John Goddard, son of Thomas Goddard, the black- 
smith, and died between 1815 and 1818. Her husband was a farmer, and as late 
as 1841 he was still living in the old houso, a tenant by courtesy even after his 
second marriage. He was killed on the Fitchburg Railroad track in 1853. Henry 
Dickson, baptized in 1741, died in 1815, leaving all he possessed to this daughter, 
Eunice, his only surviving child. John Goddard was administrator of the estate, 
in right of his wife. In the inventory we find these items: 

To a piece of land, it being the homestead, containing about 5 acres, 

at $75 per acre $375 

To a dwelling house on the same 300 

To a barn, &c 40 

As early as 1642, William Dickson, a large tax-payer in the New Towne, lived 
in a house facing Brattle square, his lauds extending from Mount Auburn street 
to Winthrop square. Not long after, the family must have bought an estate en 
the east side of the Menotomy river (now Alewife brook), extending into Charles- 
town, for at his death, in 1692, William Dickson left this homestead to his 
heirs, three children and one grandchild. In old wills the house generally goes 
to the sons, and to the daughters the privilege of living in it, so his only son, 
John, inherited the home. 

John Dickson, born in 1655-6, died in 17G7 aged 70, giving his real estate to his 

10 



146 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

three sons— a double share to the eldest, William, who after 1720 went to live 
on the Charlestown part of the estate. John, born in 1698, and Edward, boru in 
1701-2, probably lived in the house with the three daughters. The house eventu- 
ally seems to have become the property of Edward, for the inventory of his 
estate, made after his death in 1788, mentions the "old" house and two barns; 
and two wills made in 1785, speak of a dwelling house valued at £38— the 
west end of which he gave to his son, Edward, born 1737, and the east end to 
Isaiah, born in 1747, with all other buildings on the estate; to each daughter he 
gave a cow and her keep, and the privilege of living in the house for her natural 
life, or until she married; but to Henry, the father of Eunice, and to his 
brother, Gilbert, only the privilege of fishing in the brook, "sufScient for them- 
selves and families." All the furniture went to Edward and the daughters. 

Whether the estate was not large enough to give a share to all four sons, or 
whether those cut off had abundant means already, is not clear; but one of them 
showed a keen interest in the value of the homestead, for, in 1S06, eight years 
after his father's death, Henry complained that his brother, Edward, had put 
in no account as administrator, and later, in the account rendered, there is a 
note due him for £48.15 from Edward. Perhaps this note is the connecting link 
in the chain of ownership in the old home on Cedar street. If this is so, there 
is an unbroken chain from at least 1692 to the death of Henry Dickson in 1815, 
when Eunice Dickson Goddard received it by will, and lived there with her 
husband until she died. Edward Dickson, her uncle, died without issue in 
1820. John Goddard was living in the old house in 1841 and probably till his 
death in 1853, for it is in that year that his sons, John and Charles H., sold the 
estate to Nathan Robbins and from him, after a few transfers, the house came 
to Abel Fitch, who now owns it. H. E. McI. 

WATSON-DAVENPORT HOUSE— DAVENPORT TAVERN. 

Under the shadow of a giant elm, near the corner of Massachusetts and 
Rindge avenues, stands the old dwelling whose history is so closely connected 
with the ever-memorable April 19, 1775. At that time, the house was owned 
and occupied by Jacob Watson, about whom little is known, save that he was 
a blacksmith, and that he belonged to a family which had been connected 
with Cambridge history since 1650, and which had given to the town a number 
of able and patriotic citizens. 

Of the house now standing, only the front portion belonged to the original 
dwelling, the ell in the rear having been added by a later occupant. Just 
when it was built is not known, but it was occupied by Jacob's father before 
1757, the year of his death. Its huge chimney, exposed rafters and low ceilings 
still mark the handicraft of the builder of colonial days. The house stood on 
the line of British retreat from Concord and Lexington, and as all along the 
■way every tree and wall had given vantage ground to some patriotic citizen, so 




VVATSON-DAVENPOKT HOUSE — Mass. Ave. near Rindge Avk. 




THE DAVENPORT TAVERN 
Formerly Corner Mass. Ave. and Beech St. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAIMBRIDGE 147 

a pile of empty casks in the yard of tliis dwelling- offered a shelter to three mon 
in the defence of their country. In their eagerness to meot the foe, however, 
they failed to notice the approach of a flank guard of the British, who dis- 
covered their retreat, and thus three more brave lives were sacrificed to the 
cause of liberty. 

Two of these, John Hicks and Moses Richardson, were Cambridge men, 
and the story of their lives and of the finding of their dead bodies by the 
little son of the former has already been told. The third, Isaac Gardner, 
Esq., was a valued citizen of Brookline. A fourth martyr may be added 
to the list, who fell in the shadow of the old house, on this day, and the 
tragedy has a touch of comedy which only adds to its pathos. William Marcy, 
a vagabond sort of fellow, who had been warned out of the town some five 
years before, but who was employed at this time by Dr. William Kneeland 
as a laborer, sat on the fence enjoying the spectacle of the bright uniforms 
of the approaching "red-coats." Feeble in intellect, he imagined the parade 
to be an ordinary training or muster, and the skirmish a sham fight. But the 
British trooper was no respecter of persons, and this harmless victim suf- 
fered the fate of the three patriots entrenched in the yard near by. 

For many years, the old house bore traces of that day's conflict, in the 
scars left by the bullets. An old battered bullet was found imbedded in the 
coping of the building, some years ago, and until effaced by modern repair- 
ing, three bullet holes were plainly to be seen in the farther wall of the 
room at the right of the front door. Tradition says that a British deserter 
was found in the cellar, and that the house was used as a hospital after 
the battle of Lexington, which may possibly be true. Be that as it may, 
the house officially recognized as a hospital at that time was not the home 
of Jacob Watson, but of his own cousin, Abraham Watson, for, on April 22nd 
it was ordered by General Ward "that a sergeant and six men mount daily 
to guard the wounded at Mr. Abraham Watson's house." This house, all 
trace of which has been lost, evidently stood on the same lot as Jacob's, 
but nearer Cogswell avenue. 

Abraham Watson, the third of that name, and a tanner by trade, was a 
man of intelligence and energy, and was a prominent and useful citizen. 
After his death, the "Boston Gazette" stated: "He was a gentleman of su- 
perior abilities, which early introduced him into public life, being honored 
for a commission for the peace, and much employed in the public affairs of 
the town, parish and church. In the American Revolution, he took an early 
and decided part, representing the town in the Provincial Congi'ess, in the 
first General Court, and in the Convention for forming the Constitution of 
this Commonwealth." Besides these various offices, he at different times 
served as assessor, town treasurer and selectman, and was also one of a 
special committee of nine appointed "to chuse a Grammar Schoolmaster," 
thus proving himself to be a versatile and valued citizen. 



148 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAIMBRIDGE 

His son, Abraham, graduated from Harvard in 1771, and became a practising 
physician. He was surg-eon of Colonel Gardner's regriment and it was doubt- 
less because of bis profession tliat l;is fr.tlier's house was chosen as a hos- 
pital. How long this house stood after the Revolution, or what its ultimate 
history was, records do not show. 

Of the Jacob "Watson house, which Is still standing, the later history seems 
to be uneventful. It remained in the hands of the Watson family for a good 
many years, but was finally bought bj^ John Davenport, who occupied it 
uutil his death, and it is still in tlie possession of his heirs. Previous to his 
residence in this house, John Davenport owned and occupied the old tavern, 
known by his name, which stood near tiie westorn corner of Beech street 
and Massachusetts avenue, where the British turned into the Concord road 
on their way to Lexington. For many years, this was one of the old land- 
marks of North Cambridge. The building was used as a tavern at the time 
of the Revolution and for many years previous, and if we may again depend 
on tradition. Lord Percy's troops stopped here to refresh themselves, on their 
way to Lexing-ton. After this, the house was a tavern for many years, but 
was finally transformed into a tenement house. 

The building really consisted of two houses joined together, evidently built 
at different times, and with a different line of frontage towards the street, 
so that the front showed an angle. 

When St. James's Church was erected, this old house encroached on land 
needed for the new building. The poorer part of the old tavern was therefore 
torn down, and the better portion was sold and moved to Eustis street, near 
Beacon, where it still stands, easily recognized by the curious angular ir- 
regularity of its construction. 

The three elms, which stand before the church at the present time, are the 
only relics left on the site of the old landmark. 

The original grant of land to the first Watson who settled in Cambridge, 
John, by name, seems to have extended from a little below the bridge at 
Cambridge station nearly to the Arlington line. Portions of this territory 
passed into other hands, but a great part of it remained in the hands of the 
Watson heirs, whose homes were scattered along' the line of the old turnpike 
(Massachusetts avenue). The little old house near the comer of Russell 
street was probably that occupied by Daniel Watson, while the old tavern 
had been the home of Isaac Watson, who died in 1758, and whose wife was 
daughter of Deacon Samuel Whittemore, who, though nearly seventy-nine 
years old, went out to meet the British as they retreated from Lexington. He 
was shot, bayonetted and left for dead, but such was his wonderful vitality 
that he recovered from his injuries and lived to be ninety-six. 

This Isaac Watson's father, also named Isaac,* married for his second wife 
Abiel, widow of Edmund Angler, landlady of the Blue Anchor Tavern. He 




COOPER-HILL-AUSTIN HOUSE— BACK 




COOPER-HILL-AUSTIN HOUSE — FRONT 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 149 

lived near the corner of Dover street. In 1742, his house was destroyed by 

fire and he perished in tlie flames. 

C. J. A. 

COOPER-HILL-AUSTIN HOUSE. 

The Cooper-Hill-Aiistin house, or, as it has been called for the last one hundred 
years, the Austin House, was built in 1657, by John Cooper. There is no real 
historic interest connected with the house, its only history being that of those 
who have lived in it. 

Just for whom John Cooper built it is not known. There is no evidence that 
he ever lived in it himself, but there is much evidence that he owned six acres 
and lived in a house on the road to Menotomy, opposite the Cow Common. 

The fact that John Cooper built the Cooper-Hill-Austin House is undis- 
puted. He certainly owned the land, and, in 1657, had license from the town 
"to fell timber on the Cow Common for his building-." The house was built 
facing the south, as were all the early houses. The beams are all of oak, 
which are as solid today as when they were cut, two hundred and forty- 
eight years ago. The original well is still in existence, though covered, 
and is just west of the house and in front of the open shed. 

No road, or even lane, passed the house when it was built, nor, indeed, 
for sixty-eight years after. Running up to it was the Cow Common, which, 
laid out in 1638, embraced the land now lying between Garden and Linnaean 
streets and Massachusetts avenue. It was not until 1724 that that portion 
of the common between Waterhouse and Linnaean streets was sold by the 
town "for building and farming purposes," and it was not until the follow- 
ing year, 1725, that Love Lane, the present Linnaean street, was laid out as 
a highway from "the road to ^Menotomy" (Massachusetts avenue) to the 
"highway to the Great Swamp" (Garden street). 

The lane, as described by one who knew it about a hundred years 
after it was made, was a pretty, rural road, in its natural state, without 
the least grading, with ruts made by an occasional cart or chaise, and, of 
course, no sidewalks. On the side toward the house, it was three or four 
feet higher than the other side, as there the land began to rise toward the 
famous "Gallows Hill," which was later, when its gruesome usefulness was 
over, again, as formerly, called "Jones's Hill." The lane was ungraded as 
late as 1850, when the to-u-n put it in a better condition, and borrowed a 
name from the eminent botanist, Linnaeus, presumably on account of its 
proximity to the Botanic Garden, established there in 1805. 

On the lane in these early days there were two small one-story houses. 
One of these was occupied by a colored family; the other was near where 
the Garden grounds now are, and may have been that of Solomon Prentice, 
who owned what is now the Garden, and lived in his house there in the 



150 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

1750's. Before that, it was owned by the Holman family. Those were the 
only houses on the street, or, indeed, near it, until comparatively recent 
years. 

The house was well built, and has had good care, as the orl^nal clapboards 
are still on it, placed quite near together at the bottom, widening as they 
go up, and nailed with the old hand-wrought nails. On the east is the over- 
hang of the third story, and, at the back, or north, the roof slopes from the 
top to within five or six feet of the ground. Inside, the house is planned 
much as were all such old houses: the large chimney with its five flues, in the 
middle of the house, a large square room on either side of the front door, 
and rooms of the same size above them, each room having a large fire-place, 
and the huge beams exposed on the ceilings. At the back, on the first floor, 
was originally one long, rather narrow room, for the kitchen, with a tiny 
bed-room at one end. On the second floor, back of the large chambers, are 
two step-bed-rooms, as they were called — a step do-^n from the chambers, 
the ceiling at the back slanting with the roof. In the third story are two 
quite good-sized rooms. 

John Cooper was a prominent man of his day — selectman fromi 1646 to 
1690; town clerk, 1669 to 1681; and deacon of the church from 1668 until his 
death, August 22, 1691, at the age of 73. He was the son, by a former mar- 
riage, of Lydia, wife of Gregory Stone, and married Anna, daughter of Nathan- 
iel Sparhawk. The house was owned and probably occupied by the three gen- 
erations of Coopers following John — his son, Samuel, who married Hannah, 
daughter of Deacon Walter Hastings, 1682; his grandson, Walter, who mar- 
ried Martha, daughter of Benjamin Goddard, in 1722; and his great-grand- 
son, Walter, who married Lydia Kidder. Walter, of the third generation, 
died in 1751. He left to his widow, Martha, "the west half of his dwelling 
house, with liberty of the oven in t'other room^ the east half of the barn, 
and liberty to pass and repass about the house and barn." The other half 
he left to his son Walter — tlie foui-tli, and last generation of Coopers to own 
and occupy it. This Walter married Lydia Kidder, in 1755, and died a year 
later, at the early age of 27, before the birth of his son, Walter, who died nt 
the age of two; therefore, half the property was inherited by the mother, 
Lydia, and afterward the other half was purchased when she married, for 
her second husband, Jonathan Hill. Two children were born of this marriage 
—Jonathan Cooper Hill, 1763. and Lydia Hill, 1766. and they inherited the 
property— again set off in halves, the east half and the west half— and to the 
last occupant of the house, in 1902, at least, the rooms were always desig- 
nated as the east parlor and the west — the east chamber and the west. 

When Lydia was baptized at the First Parish meeting-house (erected In 
1756 and used until 1833). It happened that a student of the college. Jeremiah 
Fogg, of Kensington. N. H., was present, and is said to have declared that, 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 151 

when she grew up, he would marry her; and marry her he did, having made 
her acquaintance as a child of ten, in 1775, while he was with the troops 
in Cambridge. Major Jeremiah Fogg, born in 1749, was the son of Rev. Jer- 
emiah Fogg, of Kensington, graduated at Harvard College in 1768, taught in 
NewLuryport several years, where he began the study of law with Theophilus 
Parsons. In 1775, he entered Colonel Poor's regiment, as one of the staff offi- 
cers, and served through the whole war, after which he returned to Kensington 
and was a member of the New Hampshire senate for several years. As an 
instance of his coolness and courage, one of his soldiers said that, "at one 
time his company was surrounded by a superior force of the enemy, and then 
Major Fogg told us to load our guns, put on our bayonets and blaze 
through!" He was with General Sullivan, in 1779, during the expedition 
against the Indians, and his journal (published in 1879) though written in 
camp, manifests his superior education and ability. Harvard College Library 
owns his manuscript orderly book, kept while stationed at Winter Hill, 
October 28, 1775, to January 12, 1776. 

In the west chamber of the house could still (1902) be seen the initials of 
Jonathan and Lydia Hill, with the date 1777, cut there by them in their 
childhood. When Lydia, Mrs. Fogg, was very old, she visited the house and 
told Mrs. Holden, then a young girl — Margaret Cutter — that she, herself, 
planted the red lilac (which is still growing in front of the west parlor) in 
1775. And to Mrs. Holden, who was brought up there from childhood (1828), 
by Mrs. Martha (Frost) Austin, we are indebted for many dates and things 
of interest about the old place. She loved it, as did all who lived in It, and, 
as so few do, wrote things down; as, for instance, "the elmi on the other side 
of the street, opposite the house, was planted by William Frost, sen., in 
1800." 

Jonathan C. and Lydia sold the place in 1788 to Deacon Gideon Frost, son 
of Edmund Frost and Hannah, daughter of Deacon Samuel Cooper. Deacon 
Gideon, therefore, was great-grandson of John Cooper, who built the house. 

In the inventory of the estate, in 1783, the mansion house is valued at £100, 
the homestead of 11% acres at £345, and the nine acres in the west fields at 
£120. Deacon Gideon did not live in the house, but continued to live in 
his house on the Menotomy road, next to the estate of his great grand- 
father Cooper, the site of Deacon Gideon's house being where the house oc- 
cupied by Dr. Taylor now stands. The old well, now filled up, was directly 
under the present house from which, by the way, tradition tells us the "Brit- 
ishers" drank, to their great gratification, on that famous Wednesday morn- 
ing, April 19, 1775. His son, William, lived in the Linnaean street house in 
1800 surely, and probably up to the time of his father's death, in 1803, when 
he removed to the one until then occupied by the father, but left to William 
by his father's will— "tlie house I now live in, on the road to Menotomy." 



152 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

The Lannaean street house Gideon left to his two then unmarried daughters, 
Martha and Sarah Frost; to Martha, the west half, with half the orchard and 
upland; the other half to Sarah, the kind, benevolent Aunt Sally, of that day. 
who never married, but died in 1821, in the other old house on the road to 
Menotomy, which was so allied to the old Linnaean street house in that, for 
so many years, both had been occupied by Coopers and by Frosts. 

Deacon Gideon was a blacksmith, and his account book was still in exist- 
ence in the house in 1902, and also a table and highboy known to have be- 
longed to him. In the inventory of his estate, it is called the Cooper-Hill 
estate. All the four generations of Coopers, who owned the house, and al- 
so the Frost family, are buried in the old cemetery, corner of Garden street. 

Martha Frost married, in 1807, Thomas Austin, of Boston, a graduate of 
Harvard, in 1791, who bought the "east half of the house and barn, and half 
the orchard and upland" of Sarah Frost, for five hundred dollars, and, since 
then, it has been called the Austin House. They improved the house and 
grounds and brought their wedding furniture and silver there. The apple 
orchard was set out that j'ear, part of which is still bearing, on the Mellen 
estate. The long kitchen was divided by a partition, making a tiny dining- 
room, and a tinier kitchen, with the large fire-place and oven occupying one 
whole side of it. Another change probably made at that time was that 
of building on the projection for the front door, and placing the arbor, 
which was then against the house, where it now is. About 1820, the house 
took fire inside the wall of the west parlor, near the chimney, but, by chop- 
ping through the wall, the fire was extinguished. 

Mrs. Martha Austin died in 1838, her husband having died in 1816. She 
left one daughter, Susan, married in 1837 to Rev. Reuben Seiders, who, before 
his marriage, changed his name to Richard Thomas Austin. There was no 
child whOi lived to perpetuate the name, and, upon Mrs. Susan Austin's 
death, the estate passed into possession of the children of her cousin. Mr. 
Austin was a Unitarian minister, having graduated from Bowdoin College, 
in 1831, and from the divinity school of Harvard University, in 1836. He was 
one of the teachers of the Latin Grammar School and preached at "Wayland 
and other places. He died while settled at Lunenburg, in 1847. Mrs. Austin 
lived in the old hou.se until her death, in 1885. Many eminent men of the 
last century were her friends, and frequented the old house — Dr. Newell, the 
minister of the First Parish, whose name Is scratched on one of the old 
window panes; Henry W. Longfellow, who was at her wedding, in 1837, and 
brought her a rose bud from his garden; Starr King, John Holmes, Samuel 
Longfellow; and, later, Dr. Morrill Wyman, John White Chadwlck, George 
W. Hosmer, and many others. 

A rather unusual fact is that a record of dally occurrences was kept by 
different inmates of the house, without a break of more than a few weeks, 
from 1833 until October, 1902. A. H. H. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 153 

We may build more splendid habitations. 

Fill OUT rooms with paintings and with sculptures, 

But we cannot 
Buy with gold tlie old associations! 

HOLMES PLACE AND KIRKLAND STREET. 

East of the common, where, before that land was enclosed, the King's High- 
way from Charlestown to Watertown crossed the turnpike to Lexington, is 
Holmes place. Very early in the history of the town four small homestead lots, 
about half an acre each, were granted here, running east from the turnpike and 
facing the colleges; behind them stretched the "Pine Swamp," all the way to 
the Charlestown (now Somerville) line. 

MEANE-HASTINGS HOUSE— GANNETT HALL (B and C58). 

The corner lot on the turnpike was granted to John Meane in 1635, who died 
March 19, 1646, leaving a widow, Ann, and two daughters, Sarah, six years old, 
and Mary, four. His widow married John Hastings, the tanner, who lived on 
Brattle street, and was his second wife. His two sons, born in England, married 
her two daughters. Walter Hastings, the eldest son, married Sarah Meane in 
1655, and Samuel Hastings, the second son, married Mary Meane, in 1661. Walter 
and Sarah Hastings inherited the Meane homestead, and nine children were 
born to them here, of whom only three lived beyond childhood. A son, Dr. John 
Hastings, Harvard, 1681, died before 1705 in the Barbadoes; Hannah, who married 
Samuel Cooper, son of John; and Jonathan. Mrs. Sarah (Meane) Hastings died 
in 1673, and her husband married, eleven months later, for his second wife, 
Elizabeth, daughter of Deacon Henry Bright, of Watertown. There were three 
children by the second marriage, one of whom, Abigail, married Moses Bordman 
in 1700. The second Mrs. Hastings died in 1702, and six months later, at the 
age of seventy-two. Deacon Walter Hastings married Elizabeth (Cook), the 
widow of Elder Jonas Clarke, who survived him. Walter Hastings was deacon 
of the First Church for twenty years, selectman for thirty years, and was prom- 
inent in all public affairs of his time. 

The estate went to his only surviving son, Jonathan, the grandson of the first 
owner, who like his father and grandfather, was a tanner. He married Sarah 
Sharp, of Brookline. He acquired much land and kept horses, which he let out 
to the students. He was called "Yankee Jonathan" from his favorite expres- 
sion; he would speak of a "Yankee good horse," "Y'ankee good cider." The term 
was taken up by the students and spread far and wide and is thought by some 
to have been the origin of the word Yankee. 

In 1737, he bought the house on the east side of Holmes place, which a few 
years later he sold to his son Jonathan Hastings, Jr., the patriot, steward of the 
college. Jonathan Hastings, Sr,, died in 1742. His two older sons graduated at 



154 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

Harvard. The homestead went to his fourth son, John, who died unmarried July 
22, 1797. 

After the Revolution it passed through many hands and was, in the thirties 
of the nineteenth century, occupied by Samuel William Pomeroy, who built the 
present wooden house with pillared portico. It was bought by Harvard College 
in 1866, but later sold to Mrs. Baker, who kept here a club table for students, 
and in 1897 it was again bought by the college, the present owner. It now bears 
the name of the Gannett house. 

PERCIVAL GREEN-FOX HOUSE. 

The next lot was granted to Percival Green, who, when he was thirty-two years 
old, came here with his wife, Ellen, and two servants, in the "Susan and Ellen," 
April 18, 1635. He had two children, John, born in 1636, and Elizabeth, born in 
1639, who married John Hall, of Concord, Cambridge and Medford. On Decem- 
ber 25, 1639, Percival Green died. His widow, Ellen, married, in 1650, Thomas 
Fox, who is said to have been a descendant of the author of the famous "Book 
of Martyrs." He came to Cambridge in 1649. Thomas Fox was married four 
times; his first wife, Rebecca, the mother of his only child, Jabez, died at Concord 
in 1647; he married the widow Ellen Green and lived in this house until it was 
burned in 1681 or 1682. His wife died in May, 1682, "in consequence of a fall," 
and he seems to have remained in possession of the land. His stepchildren, John 
and Elizabetli Green, both married in 1656, and, after John's death (he was 
marshal-general of the colony), in 1691, the widow and children sued Thomas 
Fox for the estate and obtained it. 

The third wife of Thomas Fox was Elizabeth, widow of Charles Chadwick, 
of Watertown, whom he married in 1683. She died in February, 1685, and was 
buried beside her first husband. In December of the same year, he married 
Rebecca, widow of Nicholas Wyeth, whose first husband was Thomas Andrew. 
Thomas Fox died in 1693, aged eighty-five, and his widow lived until 1698. He 
occupied many small oflJces and his name frequently occurs in the Records. His 
son, Jabez, lived in the house on the east side of Holmes place, later known as 
the Holmes house. 

It is thought by some that a tavern called the Red Lion Inn occupied the 
Green lot, and a large red barn was standing there early in the nineteenth cen- 
tury, but so far no record of a house on this site, since that of Percival Green 
was burned, has been found. The vacant lot was occupied by shows and cake- 
stalls on commencement day, the overflow from the common. 

PARKS-JOHN GREEN-NATHANIEL HILL-NATHANIEL HANCOCK- 
GANNETT HOUSE-RAILROAD STATION (B and C57). 

This house was owned first by Richard Parks, who lived here from 1638 until 
his death in 1665. He was probably the father of Isabel, wife of Francis Whit- 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 155 

more, and of Elizabeth, wife of Edward Winship. The house seems to have 
belonged to the heirs of John Green in 1691. In 1715 Nathaniel Hill was living 
here. He removed to Sudbury and the house went to Nathaniel Hancock in 
1737. He was a shoemaker and had been the owner of the building on Boylston 
street, later the last Blue Anchor Tavern and "Bradish's." Nathaniel Hancock 
lived here until his death in 1755. He had many children, among them Prudence, 
who married Abraham Hill and lived on the corner of Brattle and Mason streets; 
Marj', who married John Parker and for her second husband Francis Whitmore, 
grandson of Isabel Parks, the former owner of the estate; the Rev. Nathaniel 
Hancock, of Tisbury, H. C. 1721; Elizabeth, who married John Wyeth; Belcher 
Hancock, wlw graduated at Harvard in 1727 and was tutor in the college, 
1742-1767, and also fellow for seven years. He died unmarried in 1771. An older 
son of Nathaniel, Solomon Hancock married Mary, daughter of Rev. Josiah 
Torrey, of Tisbury, in 1730, and they lived here with his father. Solomon served 
in the company of artillery in the French War and died at Lake George in 1756. 
Two of their sons were minute men in Captain Thatcher's company. Belcher 
Hancock, who was twenty-one years old, was corporal at that time. He served 
through the war and was captain of the First Massachusetts Regiment in 1780. 
Torrey Hancock, who was eight years older, was a private and rose to be 
corporal; he was guard at Winter Hill in 1778. 

The next occupant was Rev. Caleb Gannett, born at Bridgewater in 1745, eld- 
est son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Latham) Gannett, H. C. 1763, ordained in 1767, 
pastor at Amherst and at Cumberland, Nova Scotia, and returned to New 
England in 1771. He was appointed tutor in mathematics at Harvard in 1773, 
and steward of the college, 1779-1818. In April, 1781, Mr. Gannett married 
Katherine Wendell, daughter of John Mico and Katherine (Brattle) Wendell 
and granddaughter of General William Brattle. Soon after the birth of his eldest 
daughter, Katherine, in 1782, he moved from the Brattle house to this house. His 
four other children by his first wife were born hei-e, and in 1798 his first wife 
died. In 1800, he married Ruth, daughter of President Ezra Stiles, and had one 
child, Rev. Ezra Stiles Gannett, of Boston. Rev. Caleb Gannett died in 1S18, 
and was buried with his two wives in the Brattle tomb, in the old burying 
ground on Garden street. 

The house had a lean-to roof on the north, which sloped nearly to the ground, 
and the late John Bartlett liked to tell of a visit his mother made to the Gan- 
netts here. She was a great belle, and one morning awoke to find the sloping 
roof, beneath which she slept, had been covered in the night with roses by the 
students, her admirers. The Gannett estate was bought by the college in 1820. 

The quaint old house was taken down and its place occupied by the railroad 
station of the Harvard branch of the Fitchburg Railroad, the one and only 
attempt to bring Old Cambridge into commimieation with Boston by steam. It 
failed, and the station was converted by the college into commons, the students' 



166 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 



eating bouse. Mr. Nathaniel Thayer gave money to enlarge it, and it was 
called Thayer Commons, and occupied until J.Iemorial Hall was completed. Our 
picture shows this building with the Richardson-Morse house. 




LAMSON-FRANCIS-GAMAGE-mCHARDSOX-MOIlSE HOUSE 

(B and C56). 



The last house in the row, the easterly corner, was tb.e property of Barnabas 
or Barnaby Lamson, selectman in 1636, who died about 1640, leaving bis five chil- 
dren to different friends — "My daughter Mary to my brother Sparahak (Spar- 
hawk); to my brother Isaak, my daughter Sarah; my son Barnaby to my brother 
Parish; my daughter Martha to my brother Stone; my son Joseph to my brother 
Bridge." Joseph lived with Deacon Bridge and may have been the father of 
Mary Lamson who married James Clark, Jr., in 1703. 

Nathaniel Sparhawk, perhaps as executor for the Lamson children, sold the 
house in 1644 to Richard Francis and Alice, his wife. Richard Francis died in 
16S7, aged eighty-five or thereabouts, and is called by Judge Sewall "an ancient 
and good man indeed." His son, .John, married Lydia, daugliter of Deacon .John 
Cooper in 1G88. He was a brickmaker and was injured when the new college 
was raised in 1674, by a piece of a joist falling on him. He and his brother, 
Stephen, both removed to Jledford about ICSO. 

The old house on this lot, shown in the illustration next to the round roofed 
building, the railroad station, was built before 1717 by Joshua Gamage, weaver, 
probably in 1710, when he married Deborah Wyeth, daughter of William Y^^veth. 
He lived bore until 1737, when he sold to Edmund Goffe and moved to Attle- 
borough. 

In 1749, Thaddeus :\Lnson sold this house to Downing Chnmpney, who the 
aame year sold it to Moses Richardson for 702 pounds old tenor. There used to 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 157 

be a little brook as part of the boundary between this land and the adjoining 
Fox-Hastiugs-Holmes place, probably it ran into the "Pyne Swamp." 

M. I. J. G. 

Moses Richardson was of the fifth generation of the Richardson family in 
America, the first being Ezekiel, who came from England in 1630 with Winthrop's 
fleet and settled first in Charlestown until 1641, when he removed to what was 
afterwards called Woburn, where he, with his two brothers Samuel and Thomas 
(who had come over in 1636) witli four others founded the town of Woburn and 
organized the first church. His will was proved in June, 1648. 

Theophilus, eldest son of Ezekiel, married Mary Champney, of Cambridge, in 
1654. Ezekiel, his eldest son, born in Woburn in 1656, married Elizabeth Swan, 
daughter of John Swan, of Cambridge, in 16S7. 

Theophilus, eldest son of Ezekiel, was born on January 7, 1691, married in Wa- 
tertown on April 24, 1711, to Ruth Swan, daughter of Gershom Swan, of Meno- 
tomy. After his death, his widow married Ebenezer Parker, of Stoueham, April 
26, 1726. Moses Richardson was the youngest child of this Theophilus, and was 
born in Woburn, April 8, 1722. He married Mary Prentiss (born October 19, 
1729) daughter of Henry and Catharine (Felch) Prentiss. Mary died in 
Cambridge on March 12, 1812. They had six children, probably all born in this 
house: 

Mary, born June 10, 1753, married William Russell, of Boston; 
Moses, born September 10, 1755, married Sally Clark, of Boston, in 1781; 
Katharine, born August 16, 1757, married James Smith, of Cambridge; 
Elias, born September 27, 1760, married Mary Rand, of Charlestown; 
Raham, born November 4, 1762, married Mary Prentiss, of Cambridge; 
Elizabeth, born July 14, 1767, married the Reverend James Bowers, of Bil- 
lerica. 

Moses Richardson lived here until that memorable 19th of April when he, 
with Hicks and Marcy, was shot by the Brittish. One of his daughters in after 
life said: "I well remember the night my father was called up. He slept in 
the eastern front bedroom facing the colleges. It was about one o'clock when he 
marched to Lexington and he was killed about five o'clock." His two sons iden- 
tified their father's body the following morning, when he, with others, who 
were killed with him, was hastily buried in a trench (place now marked by a 
tablet), but afterwards the remains were laid in the old burying ground on Gar- 
den street, where, a century later, 1875-6, Cambridge erected a monument to the 
memory of these men. 

Moses Richardson was classed with the strong-minded men of his time. He 
was an excellent mathematician, being a surveyor and house-wright. He was 
also college carpenter and held in esteem by the faculty. Although cut off so 
suddenly at the very beginning of the Revolution, he had taken up arms before 
in defence of his country, at Quebec. He ranked as captain on General Wolfe's 



158 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

staff as "chief of artificers," and was witli Wolfe at the time of Lis death on 
the "Plains of Abraham." He made the casket in which the remains of Wolfe 
were carried to England. Wolfe's family sent a picture of the general to each 
one of the officers on his staff. The one sent to Moses Richardson has been 
handed down from son to son of succeeding generations. It is a somewhat singu- 
lar coincidence that eighty-eight years, almost to a day, after the 19tli of April 
1775, one of the great-grandsons of Moses Richardson marched on the 17th of 
April 1861, to the seat of the war of the rebellion, at the head of the first vol- 
unteer company raised in the United States for that war. The company was 
raised and drilled by that great-grandson the winter before the war. A memo- 
rial bronze tablet is in the city hall of Cambridge as a tribute from Cambridge 
to this company. J. L. R. B. 

The house was sold by Raham Richardson to Susan and Catharine Morse in 
1792, but one-half was to be occupied by his mother, Mary (Prentiss) Richard- 
son, until her death, which occurred March 10, 1812. For many years. Royal 
Morse lived here, a man of much prominence, an auctioneer. He it was, who, 
the morning after the burning of the convent in Somerville, went from house to 
house to summon the citizens to act as guard to Harvard College, as it was 
feared the Roman Catholics of Boston might burn the buildings here in retalia- 
tion. Royal Morse lived to be over ninety years old, and was a fund of infor- 
mation in regard to old times in Cambridge, which he and his neighbor, Mr. 
John Holmes, would talk over together. The house was occupied by students, 
and many families lived successively in the west half. It was taken down .in 
1888 to make room for the law school, which was erected just behind it. 

FOX-HOOEES HOUSE. 

The Holmes house stood on the northeast corner of Holmes place. Dr. Oliver 
W. Holmes thus describes it: "The gambrel-roofed house, though stately 
enough for college dignitaries and scholarly clergymen, was not one of those 
Tory Episcopal-church-goer's strongholds. The honest mansion makes no pre- 
tensions. Accessible, comfortable, respectable, and even in its way dignified, 
but not imposing, not a house for his Majesty's Counsellors, or the Riglit Rev- 
erend successor of Him who had not where to lay His head, for something like 
a hundred and fifly years it has stood in its lot, and seen generations of men 
come and go like leaves of the forest." 

The property was first owned by Barnabas Larason. It was purchased in 1639 
by Nathaniel Sparliawk, and afterwards came into the possession of Thomas 
Fox, from whom, it passed to his son, Jabez Foz. Rev. .Tabez Fox, born in Con- 
cord in 1647, gradua-ted from Harvard in 1665 and married .Tudith, daughter of 
Rev. John Reyner, of Plymouth, N. H. In 1678, he was invited to Woburn to 
assist Rev. Thomas Carter for one year. At the end of this time, they voted to 







^^;*'*^^>^^;pt;7?;^^>f iJ^^.l :- .1.; 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 159 

call him "to be their minister for his lifetime." He died in Boston on February 
28, 1703, and was buried in Woburn. His son, John, born in Cambridge in 1678, 
graduated from Harvard 1698, and was ordained as his father's successor in 
1703. After the death of his brother, Jaboz, in 1736, he sold the estate to Jona- 
than Hastings, Sr., by deed dated October 24, 1737. July 22, 1742, Mr. Hastings 
and his wife, Sarah, conveyed the property to their son, Jonathan. Jonathan 
Hastings, Jr., graduated from Harvard in 1730, and in October, 1750, married 
Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. John Cotton, of Newton. He was justice of the 
peace and steward of Harvard College nearly thirty years, an ardent patriot in 
the war of tlie Revolution. His house was the headquarters of General Ward in 
the early part of 1775. From this house, on the 17th of June, 1775, Gen. Joseph 
Warren went to the Battle of Bunker Hill. 

Jonathan, son of Jonathan, Jr., graduated from Harvard in 1768, and was 
appointed postmaster in 1775. He married Christina Wainwright November 24, 
1780, and in April, 1792, they conveyed the estate to Eliphalet Pearson. John 
Hastings, a brother of Jonathan, married Lydia Dana, daughter of Richard 
Dana, and sister of Chief Justice Dana, December 7, 1783. He graduated from 
Harvard in 1772, was Major in the Revolutionary war, and lived for a time at 
the homestead, where . some of his children were born. Another brother. Dr. 
Walter Hastings, Harvard, 1771, was a surgeon in the continental army. Rev. 
Eliphalet Pearson was professor of Hebrew and other Oriental languages twenty 
years, 1786-1806; he then resigned and went to Andover, where he became pro- 
fessor of Sacred Literature in the theological seminary. Professor Pearson sold 
the place to Oliver Wendell, March 25, 1807. It was then said to contain five 
acres of land and the price paid was $7,000. Hon. Oliver Wendell, judge of 
the probate court and member of tlie corporation of the university, 1788-1812, 
lived here in retirement until his death, at the age of 84 years, in 1812. 

Rev. Abiel Holmes was minister of the First Parish Church for nearly forty 
years, and was widely known as the author of "American Annals," and the 
"History of Cambridge." He married the only daughter of Judge Wendell, and 
moved to the home of his father-in-law, with whom they lived until the death of 
the latter, when it became the property of Mrs. Holmes. 

Of such a father and mother Oliver Wendell Holmes was born, in the old gam- 
brel-roofod house, August 29, 1809. He says: "It was a great happiness to have 
been born in an old house, haunted by such recollections, with harmless ghosts 
walking its corridors, and that vast territory of four or five acres around it, to 
give a child the sense that he was born to a noble principality. I should hardly 
be quite happy if I could not recall, at will, the old house with the long entry 
and the white chamber, where I wrote the first verses that made me known ('Old 
Ironsides') and the little parlor, and the study, and the old books, in uniforms 
as varied as those of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company used to be, 
and the front yard with the stars of Bethlehem, and the dear faces to be seen 
no more there or anywhere on this earthly place of farewells." 



160 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

John Holmes, brother of Oliver, boru iu 1812, graduated from Harvard in 1832, 
lived in the old house until the death of his mother, when it was sold to the 
college. It was then occupied by Professor William Everett and others until it 
was torn down in 1883, when Austin Hall, the present law school, was built. 

I. S. W. 

The land on the corner of Holmes place and the present Kirkland street was 
the first lot given by the town of Newtowue to Harvard College, but it was later 
exchanged for a lot, now in the college yard, where the first college building was 
erected. The Hemenway Gymnasium now occupies the site. From 1845 till 1866 
the Old Cambridge Baptist Church stood here. It was moved to the corner of 
Massachusetts avenue and Roseland street. The building next to it is the Law- 
rence Scientific School, built in 1848. The first house on Kirkland street, No. 7, 
was built by tlie friends of Stephen Higginson, Jr. (a merchant of Salem, who 
had suffered great losses from the embargo during the war of 1812), when he 
succeeded, on the death of Kev. Caleb Gannett, to the stewardship of Harvard 
College. Mr. Higginson was very active in town and college affairs and greatly 
interested in the building of the divinity school and in the young men who 
studied there. He died in 1827. In the poem given before the Phi Beta Kappa 
Society in 1904, his famous son. Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson, told how 
his father placed a lamp before each professor's door, and planted trees in the 
college yard. He was greatly admired and respected and, as a tribute of admi- 
ration, a portrait of the Man of Ross was one day left anonymously at his door. 
Here, December 20, 1826, his son Thomas Wentworth Higginson was born, one 
who has always had the interests of his native town at heart, and from whose 
writings we can learn what Cambridge was in the middle of the nineteenth 
century. 

Mrs. Higginson sold the house to Charles Chauncy Foster, in 1836. Mr. 
Foster, who was a brother of Bossinger and Joseph Foster, lived here until his 
death in 1875, at the age of 91. His grandson, Charles Foster Batchelder, owns 
and occupies the house. 

PHILLIPS-DANFORTH-FOXCROFT HOUSE. 

The land on which the Higginson house stands was called the old ox-pasture 
and was probably part of the lot granted to the Rev. John Phillips, who came to 
Salem from England in 1638. He was invited to come here to be teacher of the 
First Church, under Rev. Thomas Shepard, in 1639. He came from Wrentham, 
about thirty miles northeast of Ipswich, England, and had married Elizabeth 
Ames, sister of the famous Dr. Ames, the Puritan minister. Several entries in 
the church record prove that Mr. Phillips actually came to Cambridge; and 
Paige, in his History of Cambridge, says that he built this house, but he did not 
remain, for he settled in Dedham in 1640; there, however, he did not stay long, 
for on October 26, 1641, he sailed for England, where he was later minister of 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 161 

Wrentham, Eugland, "aud is supposed to have beeu a member of the West- 
minster Assembly of Divines." 

In 1652, Thomas Danforth sold the homestead on the northerly side of Bow 
street, near Mt. Auburn street, inherited from his father, Nicholas Danforth, 
which he had occupied till this time, and removed to the northerly side of "The 
Path from Charlestown to Watertovvn," as Kirkland street was then called. 
(It was the connecting highway between these two towns, both a little older 
than Cambridge.) The name Kirkland was not given to the street until about 
1820, when it was so called after the late John T. Kirkland, president of Har- 
vard College. The exact site of Thomas Dauforth's house cannot be determined, 
ibut it probably stood near the intersection of Kirkland and Oxford streets, a 
little west of the latter, for recently the foundations of two buildings have been 
discovered here; one about eight feet seven with a brick floor aud a chimney in 
the corner; the other foundation of stones loosely laid together a little distance 
from the other, and indicating a larger building, seems like that of a shed, or 
other outbuilding of the house, supposed to have stood just west of the present 
house of Professor F. G. Peabody. Behind these foundations was found what 
was evidently a rubbish heap, from which a trivet, key, broken door handles and 
many other things have been taken. About the house were one hundred aud 
twenty acres of land, extending from the estates of Dr. Holmes and Nathaniel 
Jarvis to the Charlestown or Somerville line, together with about the same quan- 
tity on the southerly side of Kirkland street, extending across Cambridge street 
to Dana Hill aud including the northerly part of the college grounds and the 
Delta. 

One of the most useful citizens in the town and in the colony, Thomas Dan- 
forth held many oflQces of trust and retained each a long term of years. As 
early as 1644, when he was but twenty-two years of age, he was chosen with 
"several men to enter the elenation of lands." In 1651, he was chosen one of 
three commissioners "to settle small causes," and in 1653 he was appointed, 
■with two others, to "lay out all necessary high waies on the south side of the 
water" (Charles river). He is best known, however, as deputy governor, an 
office he held twenty years. "He was confessedly the leader of his party in the 
opposition to the arbitrary proceedings of the King and his Counsellors." He 
married Mary Withington, of Dorchester, aud they had many children, but at 
the death of Deputy Governor Danforth in 1699, his daughter, Elizabeth, was the 
only one living. In 1682 she had married Francis Foxcroft, and to her he "be- 
queathed his homestead and laud, if he died without other issue." They, with 
their six children, removed from Boston to Cambridge, and lived in the home- 
stead the remainder of their lives. Deputy Governor Danforth also "desired in 
his will that the negro man, Philip ffeild should serve Mr. Foxcroft four 
years, and then be a free man, and have ten pounds in money, and forty acres 
of land in Cambridge ff amies." 

11 



162 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

Like his father-in-law, Mr. Foxcroft held many public ofHces, and was justice 
of the peace under Andros. It was upon his warrant that Winslow was com- 
mitted to prison for announcing the revolution in England. After a few days' 
imprisonment Mr. Foxcroft exchanged places with Winslow and became a pris- 
oner with Andros and his adherents. "But he could not have been obnoxious to 
the new government, for it was ordered that Mr. Francis Foxcroft be released 
from his imprisonment and be confined to the house of Mr. Thomas Danforth 
in Cambridge one week's time, and that then he be set at liberty, unless any- 
thing appeared to be objected against him in the meantime." Mr. Foxcroft is 
described as "a gentleman by birth and education, of a wealthy family in the 
north of England. He was bred a merchant and was expert and skilful, as well 
as just and upright in all his business." He had an uncontrollable temper, 
owing to severe attacks of the gout, "but this was his burden and lamentation." 

At his death, in 1727, Mr, Foxcroft owned land in England. In order to dis- 
pose of it, the consent of the archbishop of York had to be obtained. His eldest 
son, Daniel, having died in England, in 1741, his estate passed to his second 
son, Francis Foxcroft, who graduated from Harvard College in 1712, and in 
1722 had married Mehitable Coney, of Boston. Following in the footsteps of his 
father, he spent much of his life in public service, filling many oflSces of trust, 
and serving as registrar of deeds forty-four years. He was, at the time of his 
death, "the oldest Justice of tlie Peace and Quorum through the Province. He 
was first Justice of the Court of General Sessions of the Peace, and inferior 
Court of Common Pleas in the county where he lived, 27 years," till by reason 
of bodily infirmities and great "simplicity and tenderness of conscience," he 
resigned his seat on the Bench. Judge Foxcroft remained in the paternal man- 
sion till his death in 1768, and in his will expressed the desire that the estate 
should be retained by his son, John, a graduate of Harvard College in 1758, who 
married Sarah Deane (?). Of her it is recorded that, July 2, 1802, she fell from 
a chair and instantly expired, leaving no issue. 

Mr. John Foxcroft had been registrar of deeds ten years when, being suspected 
of hostility to the government, probably with good reason, during the revolution, 
he lost office, and retired to his house, where he passed his time "in luxurious 
ease, which seemed more congenial to his natural disposition than active em- 
ployment." In compliance with the wish expressed in his father's will, "he 
obtained possession of the homestead by the purchase of the rights of the other 
heirs, and probably lived here until the house was destroyed by fire in 1777." 
In 1773, he bought the John Hicks house on the southeast corner of Dunster 
and Winthrop streets, where he probably resided until his death in 1802. He 
being the last of the family in Cambridge, his heirs, who resided in Essex and 
Worcester counties, sold the estate "and the noble farm of the Danforths and 
Foxcrofts was cut up into fragments." The largest individual portion of it 
which remains is the valuable estate of Professor Norton. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE ^ 163 

The New Lecture Hall has been recently erected by the college, very near the 
site of the old Danforth house. To accommodate this building, tlie wooden 
house, built early in the nineteenth century, known as "Foxcroft House," was 
moved around on to Oxford street. It became the property of Harvard Uni- 
versity in 1S89. By the request of Miss Mary U. TJpliam, from whom it was 
bought, this name was given to it. It was occupied for some years by Pro- 
fessor Asahel Stearns. Much of the time since then it has been used as a 
boarding-house. L. P. S. 

During the nineteenth century, Kirkland street went by the name of "Pro- 
fessors' Row." The houses on the north side from Mr. Higginson's were in 
order as follows: Professors James Hay ward, Asahel Stearns, John Farrar, and 
Henry Ware, the last house on the west corner of Divinity avenue. 

On the south side of the street was the college playground, the "Delta," so 
called from its shape being that of the Greek letter, bounded by Kirkland, Cam- 
bridge and Quincy streets. Here the football games took place. October 6, 1870, 
the corner stone of Memorial Hall, which now stands here, was laid. It was 
built from the designs of William Robert Ware, H. C. 1852, and Henry Van 
Brunt, H. C. 1854. It is 305 feet long, 113 feet wide and the tower is 190 feet 
high. The principal entrances, on the north and south, lead into the memorial 
transept, or portico, which is lined on both sides with tablets giving the names 
of Harvard's sons killed on the Union side in the civil war, 1861-1865. From 
this portico, to the east, doors open into Sanders Theatre, the auditorium, where 
the commencement exercises of the college take place. On the west of the 
portico, doors open into the great dining hall. The walls of this hall are hung 
with portraits of Harvard's famous sons and benefactors, by Smibert, Copley, 
Trumbull and later artists. The stained glass windows are the gifts of differ- 
ent classes in memory of their members. At the west end, in front of the build- 
ing, is a seated statue of John Harvard, by Daniel C. French, the gift of Samuel 
James Bridge in 1884. No likeness of Harvard is known to exist, and it is said 
the face of this statue was modelled from a son of Senator Hoar. 

Opposite Sanders Theatre, on the corner of Quincy and Kirkland streets, 
stands the Swedenborgian chapel and near it the house of the pastor. This was 
formerly the house of Rev. Jared Sparks, historian, author of the "Lives of the 
Generals of the Revolution," and editor of the "Letters of George Washington." 
He was professor of history at Harvard, 1838-1849, and President from that year 
until 1853. He died here in 1866. 

On the corner of Divinity avenue and Kirkland street is Randall Hall, another 
refectory owned by the college; other college buildings now standing on the 
Danforth-Foxcroft land, besides those already mentioned, are the Peabody Ar- 
chaeological and Ethnological Museum, built in 1877, the Agassiz Museum of 
Comparative Zoology, built 1860-1880, which forms a part of the University 



164 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

Museum where the ghiss flowers are, the Semitic Museum, and the Divinity 
school, 1826, all reached from Divinity avenue. On the other side of Memorial 
Hall, between Cambridge and Quincy streets and Broadway, is the old Gym- 
nasium, now used as temporary quarters for the Germanic collection and the 
gifts of the Emperor of Germany. 

PHILLIPS-WARE-NORTON HOUSE. 

At the further boundary of the estate lies "Shady Ilill," in Norton's Woods, 
accessible from Irving street, of which we give an illustration, the house 
now occupied by Professor Charles Eliot Norton. The laud was bought by 
John Phillips, the first mayor of Boston, and the house was built by him to- 
wards the end of the eighteenth century. Tlie son of William Phillips and his 
wife Margaret Wendell, daughter of Hon. Jacob Wendell, merchant and mem- 
ber of the governor's council, John Phillips, was born in Boston in 1770, and 
brought up by his kinsman Lieutenant-Governor Samuel Phillips of Andover. 
He graduated at Harvard and in 1794 married Sarah Walley, daughter of 
Thomas Walley, merchant of Boston, and their eighth child born in 1811, after 
they had left Cambridge, was the famous Wendell Phillips. 

The next occupant of the house was Professor Henry Ware, of Harvard, 1785, 
who was professor of theology at Harvard, 1805-1840, and emeritus professor 
until 1845. From him it went in 1823 to Professor Andrews Norton, Harvard, 
1804. He died in 1853. The house is still occupied by his son, Professor Charles 
Eliot Norton, who was born here. M. I. J. G. 

DANA HOUSE. 

In early times all that part of Cambridge east of Quincy and Bow streets, 
extending through what is now Cambridgeport, was called "The Neck." It 
consisted of pastures, woodland, swamps and salt marsh and was used only 
for cultivation. The part from Quincy square to Dana street was called "the 
Old Field," originally "the Planting Field," and next further east came 
"Small Lot Hill." These were divided into narrow lots and the part east of 
these, some of it bordering on the marsh, was divided into large lots. Grad- 
ually they passed into fewer hands until at length most of it was embraced 
in three farms. 

Paige, in the "History of Cambridge," says that the Old Field early became 
the property of Edward Goffe and John Gay, and that, later, the larger por- 
tion became vested in Chief Justice Francis Dana, who subsequently purchased 
"Small Lot Hill" and several other lots on both sides of what is now Massa- 
chusetts avenue, then called the "road into the Neck," afterward, Main strer^t, 
and that on that road he erected a spacious mansion to the west of "the high- 
way to the common pales" now called Dana street. 




rHILLIi'S-.NUKTU^ UUUSE 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 165 

Edward Goffe, who arrived in Cambridge in 1635, was an ancestor of 
Francis Dana, thirough the latter's mother, Lydia Trowbridg-e, whose mother was 
Mary Goffe. Paige says that Goffe was "a large landliolder and one of the 
most wealthy men in the town. His homestead contained thirty-two acres, 
bounded southerly on the old road into the Neck, easterly on land of 
Joseph Cooke, near the present Ellery street, northerly on the Danforth estate, 
near Broadway, and westerly on the parsonage. His dwelling house stood 
at the southwest corner of his farm very near the junction of Massachusetts 
avenue and Harvard street," probably the site of Beck Hall. The Harvard 
Union stands on what was the old garden. 

The estate descended to his son, Samuel Goffe, who signed and sealed 
with his coat of arms the parchment deed of 1696, still in the possession 
of the Dana family, by which he granted it to his son. Colonel Edmund Goffe, 
after whose death it was bought by Richard Dana, father of Fi-ancis. On 
the division of Richard Dana's estate, in 1779, the land on both sides of what 
is now Quincy street, extending from Broadway to Massachusetts avenue, 
near Remington street, went to his eldest sou, Rev, Edmund Dana, of Shrews- 
bury, England, whose heirs soon sold it. The rest, 'bordering on Massachusetts 
avenue, nearly to Dana street, and extending through to Broadway, was 
the share of the younger son, Francis. 

Francis Dana, born June 13, 1743, was great-grandson of the immigrant 
Richard Dana, who came to Cambridge about 1640. His grandfather, Daniel 
Dana, was one of a committee appointed in Cambridge in 1736, consisting, as 
says Rev. Abiel Holmes, "of wise, prudent and blameless Christians, a kind of 
privy council to the minister ' (Rev. Nathaniel Appleton). His gravestone is 
still to be seen in the old burial ground in Harvard square. Daniel was 
the father of the second Richard Dana, born in Cambridge, graduated at Har- 
vard in 1718, and resided in Boston "an eminent lawyer and ardent patriot," 
of whom John Adams said that, had he not been cut off by death, he would 
have furnished one of the immortal names of the Revolution. His son, 
Francis Dana, although born in Charlestown and brought up in Boston, where he 
was educated at the Boston Latin School, soon came to 
Cambridge to college and graduated at Harvard in 1762, after which he 
studied law here five years with his uncle. Judge Trowbridge, "the luminary 
of the common law," as he has been called, with whom Chief Justice Parsons, 
Christopher Gore, Royall Tyler, Rufus King, Harrison Gray Otis and other 
distinguished men also studied law. From that time on, he seem's to have 
lived in Cambridge, thoiugh belonging to the Sons of Liberty and to a Boston 
club, in which "Lowell, Dana, Quincy and other young fellows," says John 
Adams, "were not ill employed in discussions of the right of taxation." 

No doubt it was at the house of Judge Trowbridge that Francis Dana met 
his future wife, Elizabeth Ellery, of Newport, R. L, daughter of Willam 



166 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

Ellery, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, for her mother 
and Mrs. Trowbridge were sisters, daughters of Judge Jonathan Remington, 
of Cambridge. He married her on August 5, 1773, and made his home for soms 
years with the Trowbridges. He had come to the bar in 1767, at the height 
of the civil struggle and was specially engaged In causes involving civil and 
political rights, was one of -the counsel in the celebrated Lechmere slave 
case, and, though one of the youngest of the bar, opposed the complimentary 
address which that body presented to Governor Hutchinson, on his departure 
for England. 

In April, 1774, at the age of thirty, he sailed for England, taking confi- 
dential l2tters to Benjamin Franklin, and remained there for two years, rep- 
resenting the Massachusetts patriots. His eldest brother, Edmund, 
Dana, had settled in England, was a clergyman of the English Church, and had 
married a daughter of Lord Kinnaird, niece of Sir William Johnstone (whose 
wife was cousin and heiress of the Earl of Bath), long a member of Parlia- 
ment and one of the richest subjects of Great Britain. Through them and 
their connections, Francis Dana had good opportunities of ascertaining the 
Btate of feeling in England and the probable measures of the government. 

"The Diai-y of Dorothy Dudley" describes a meeting of many Cambridge 
families at Mr. Dana's house on Butler Hill, on the 19th of April, 1775, and 
the good pastor, Dr. Appleton, comforting and praying for them. As' Mr. 
Dana was in England at the time and his house not built for some ten years 
after, this Is a slight anachronism. Mr. Dana returned In April, 1776, bringing 
a report that there was no hope of an adjustment with England on any terms 
which tlie colonists could accept. A letter from John Adams, introducing him 
to General Washington, says that "he is a gentleman of family, fortune and 
education, who has just returned to his country to share with his friends in 
their dangers and triumphs. He will satisfy you that we have no reason 
to expect peace from Britain." 

In May, 1776, he was elected a member of the Massachusetts Council, 
and so continued until 1780. In November, 1776, he was chosen dele- 
gate to the Continental Congress,* and held several important posts, 
was on the board of war, and later on the board of 
treasury, and. In 1778, was one of the signers of the Articles of Con- 
federation. He was chairman of a committee to reorganize the continental 
army, and also, in January, 1778, chairman of a committee to visit Valley 
Forge, where he remained several months with Washington and the army. 
The same year, he was appointed with Gouverneur Morris and Drayton to 
consider the Conciliatory Bills, and on the adverse report of this committee, 

•For his ride to congress in 1777 witli William Ellery, see "A Revolutionary 
Congressman on Horseback," "Travellers and Outlaws," by T. W. Higgiuson. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAIMBRIDGE 167 

Lord North's proposals were rejected by Congress. About this time, the Amer- 
ican Academy of Arts and Sciences was founded in Boston, and Dana was one 
of the founders and charter members. 

In 1779, the king of Spain offered to mediate between Great Britain and her 
rebellious colonies, and congress appointed a special embassy to Paris, John 
Adams to be minister plenipotentiary and Francis Dana secretary of legation. 
Although they went to France they did not accomplish their mission. 

When the Spanish mediation fell through, Adams, and afterwards Dana, 
•went to Holland, jointly charged by congress with raising loans in Europe. 
Soon after, Dana was appointed minister to Russia and arrived at the court 
of the Empress Catherine in the summer of 1781, taking with him young John 
Quincy Adams, as his secretary. At the end of two years, Dana, who had been 
absent from his wife and family over six years, resigned his position, having 
remained until he had succeeded In the main object of his mission, and until 
the preliminaries of peace between Great Britain and the United States had 
begun. During part, at least, of his first absence, his wife and child had lived 
with her uncle and aunt. Judge and Mrs. Trowbridge, in Cambridge. During 
his second absence with Adams, whose wife had also been left behind, Abigail 
Adams writes to her husband, July 16, 17S0: "Present my compliments to Mr, 
Dana. Tell him I have called upon his lady and we enjoyed an afternoon of 
sweet communion. I find she would not be averse to taking a voyage, should 
he be continued abroad. She g^roaned most bitterly and is irreconcilable to 
his absence. I am a mere philosopher to her." 

On Dana's return to America, in December, 17S3, he was again appointed a 
delegate to the Continental Congress. The next summer, during the recess of 
congress, and Avhile there was no president, an executive committee was 
appointed, clothed with very considerable powers. Of this "Committee of 
States" Dana was the member from Massachusetts. The next year, 1785, he 
was appointed a judge of the supreme bench of Massachusetts, by Governor 
Hancock. It was at the time of his resignation from congress and return 
to Cambridge that he built his house on what has since been called Dana Hill. 
In 1787, appointed a delegate to the convention for framing the constitution 
of the United States, he declined on account of his judicial duties, but in 
1788, he was a member of the convention that ratified the constitution. 

In 1796, President Adams appointed Dana on a special embassy to France, 
with Pinckney and Marshall, which he declined. In November, 1791, he was 
made chief justice of Massachusetts, and during the fifteen years that he 
held this post he took no active part in politics, beyond being three times 
presidential elector. After the Revolution there was a popular wave In favor 
of repudiation of debts, both public and private, especially when due to 
foreigners or Tories. Dana threw himself, heart and soul, in favor of honest 
payment, and by his efforts brought about payment in full of the loans to the 



163 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

governmont, which ho hnd been instrnmental in securing-. In 1801, the town 
of Dana, in Worcester county, was named for him. In 1806, he rJsigned the 
chief justiceship and the next year his wife died. Francis Dana died, 

at his home in Cambridga, April 25, 1811, at the age of sixty-seven. President 
John Adams was a pall-bearer at his funeral. He was buried in the Trow- 
br:dge-Dana tomb in the old burial-ground in Harvard square. The memorial 
tablet in Christ Church, sometimes thought to be his, is that of his grandson 
who bore the same name, Francis Dana, M.D. Sullivan, in his "Familiar 
Letters on Public Characters," says of Judge Dana that he was "an able law- 
yer, and was a very direct, clear, forcible speaker, but his manner on the 
bench was severe. In winter, he wore a white corduroy surtout lined with 
fur, and a large muff, probably Russian acquisitions." 

At the time of the Revolution, the only house in what is now Cambridgeport 
was that of Ralph Inman, with the exception of a house, just west of the 
"highway to the common pales" (Dana street), which Judge Edmund Trow- 
bridge bought, v.ith five acres of land from S.nrah Gay, widow of John Gay, 
April 17, 1754, probably part of the same land that Gay bought of Joseph 
Cooke, March 4, 1734. This lot, which adjoined the Goffe land, inherited from 
his father, Richard Dana, Francis Dana bought of Judge Trowbridge, January 
21, 1785, and the same year built upon it the house referred to by Paise, and 
shown in the illustration, and was living there in March, 1785, according to the 
diary of John Quincy Adams. 

In 1789, Dana bought from Judge Trowbridge several acres on the south side 
of Massachusetts avenue which had been Aaron Bordman's, commonly called 
the "Long Pasture" (sold to Edmund Goffe in 1715 and by Goffe conveyed to 
Trowbridge in 1736). Here Judge Dana had his vegetable garden, and here, 
in 1857, Henry O. Houghton built the house he long lived in, now occupied 
by the Cambridge School for Nursing. In 1793, Judge Trowbridge died, leaving 
his estate to Francis Dana, to which the latter added more by purchase — Fort 
Washington and the fort on Putnam avenue were both on his land. Streets 
laid out on his estate and named for him and his connections are: Rem- 
ington, Trowbridge, Ellery, Dana, Kinnard, and Allston. In a letter 
dated February 8, 1792, Dana, writing to Governor Shirley's grand- 
daughter, Mrs. Frances (Bollan) "Western, in England, says: "Judge Trow- 
bridge is still living in his old habitation and has lately entered upon his 
E3rd year. We have not lived with him for more than six years, but are 
seated upon the elevated ground, between Col. I'hip's and Inman's houses, 
where I have built a very convenient house, wh!ch commands the most ex- 
tensive and variegated prospect of ar.y one in Town, or in the vicinity of the 
Capital." That he appreciated this view is shown by a stipulation made in an 
agreement with Leonard Jarvis, in 1797, that Jarvis should "forever hereafter 
keep open the way of forty feet wide (Front street) lately laid out by said 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 169 

Jarvis so as to leave open an uninterrupted view from the said Dana's present 
dv/elling'-hcuse of such part of Cambridge Bay and of Boston as may fall in 
the course of the samo way so far as the said Jarvis's land, lately Inman's, 
extends." It is said that from Dara's house the Charles river could be ^en 
in seven different directions and that in storms the spray from the river reach- 
ed the house. It stood some distance back from t)ie road on several terraces, 
the hill having been since then lowered when the horse car tracks were laid, 
about 1S56. 

As late as 1793, there were still no other houses in that part of Cambridge 
except the Iiimnn house and one in Pleasant street, on Dana's 
"Soden Farm" (standing- until about 1S40); for it must be remembered that this 
was not the way to Boston, but only "the neck of land" with no bridges across 
the river. A subscription for building- a bridge was opened in January, 1792, 
and was filled up in three houi's. A petition vvas immediately presented to the 
general court and, on March 9, Francis Dana and his associates (Oliver Wendell 
and others), were incorporated as "The proprietors of the "West Boston 
Bridg-e," with authority to build a bridge and collet tolls for "forty years, dur- 
ing- which time they were to pay annually to Harvard Colleg-e or University 
the sum of three hundred pounds." In 1793, Jarvis and Dana laid out building 
lots for houses and stores which were soon occupied, and also opened a dike 
and canals to drain the marsh lands. It sterns very odd, now, to read the 
protest of Edmund and Francis Dana in ISOS, against the putting of Harvard 
street through their lands, as a "road that is not required by any necessity 
nor for the convenience of the inhabitants" because as far on the course 
of the proposed way as Simeon Ford's brick house, beyond Lee street, "there 
is not any building except a bam, a distance of one mile, and there is already 
a superabundance of roads in the vicinity." 

Dana's house is said to have been a place of generous hospitality much 
frequented by the leaders of the Federal party and by Harvard students, sons 
of the prominent men in the southern and middle states. He supported 
through their college course several men who became eminent in their pro- 
fessions. Rev. William Ellery Charming, his wife's nephew, who graduated In 
1798, had a home here during his collegj course, says Judge Story. 

In 1S19, eight years after Judge Dana's death, his house was sold to John 
Cook, a great-grandson of the early owner of the land, and in 1825 was 
bought by Rev. John Henry Hopkins, afterwards bishop of Vermont, who oc- 
cupied it only a short time, for Hon. Timothy Fuller was living here in 1S26 
with his family, and Margaret Fuller* once wrote of the house: "There was 
in my father's room a large closet filled with bpoks. ... Its window overlooked 

*The house where Margaret Fuller was born is still standing. 71 Cherry street, 
now used as a settlement house connected with the Young Women's Christian 
Association. 



170 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

■n-ide fields, gentle slopes, a rich and smiling country whose aspect pleased 
without much occupying the eye, while a range of blue hills, rising at about 
twelve miles' distance, allured to reverie. . . . My eye was constantly al- 
lured to that distant blue range and I would sit lost in fancies till tears fell 
on my cheek." Colonel Hgginson, in his Memoirs of Margaret Fuller, speaks 
of an entertainment given by Mr. Puller, "to John Quincy Adams, the presi- 
dent, in 1S26, one of the most elaborate affairs of the kind that had occurred 
in Cambridge since the ante-Revolutionary days of the Lechmeres and Vaa- 
salls. He was then residing in a fine old mansion, built by Chief Justice Dana, 
on what is still called Dana Hill, and his guests were invited from far and 
near to a dinner and a ball." Adams, in an unpublished part of his diary, 
writes: "September 26, 1826—1 went to Cambridge and dined with Mr. T. Pul- 
ler at the house which was formerly Judge Dana's and which he has just 
purchased. President Kirkland, Professors "Ware and Willard, Messrs. Everett 
and Bailey, Dr. Welsh and several others were there, with Mrs. Fuller and her 
daughter and his sister. Sir. Fuller had invited evening company witli the 
expectation of their meeting me there, and, among the rest, the daughters of 
the late Judge Dana. But the illness of Mrs. Adams and the expectation 
that John would go this evening out to Quincy compelled me to return to 
Boston before Mr. Fuller's evening company had arrived." 

In 1835, the house was bought by Mr. Isaac Llvermore, who let it to Mr. 
David Mack, of Salem. At one time Miss Davis, sister of Admiral Davis, had a 
popular dancing class In a large room in the ell of the house, which Thomas 
Wentworth Higginson, William W. Story, Mary Devens and other children 
of the day attended. The ell was very long and was said to have slave quarters 
In it. It is known that Judge Dana had negro servants, two of them bequeathed 
to his care by Judge Trowbridge, but he was strongly opposed to slavery. In 
the early morning of January 18, 1839, a iire broke out, "from one of the 
appendages of the house," says the Boston Courier. Of these "appendages," 
there seem to have been many — a great barn with its coach house, a corn barn, 
shed, woodhouses, spring house, farm house, etc. "Little could be done," con- 
tinues the Courier, "to arrest the progress of the flames, owing to the scarcity 
of water. ... It was more than an hour before the main building took fire. 
All the buildings were entirely consumed." 

One of the firemen present was Judge Dana's grandson, Richard H. Dana, 
Jr., who had lately returned from his tv^o years before the mast and had 
joined the volunteer fire department and is said, by an old inhabitant, Mr. 
Andrew Waltt, who was also there as a fireman, to have been very active on 
the occasion. E. E. D. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 171 

INMAN HOUSE. 

Ralph Inman was noted among the Tories of Cambridge, before the Revolu- 
tion, for his magnificent hospitality. His early home and parentage are un- 
known. The Rev. George Inman, rector of Burrington, Somersetshire, Eng- 
land, is supposed to have been his brother. The first record we find of him is 
that, November 2, 1746, he married Susanna Speakman, whose twin sister, 
Hannah, was the wife of John Rowe, merchant, for whom Rowe s Wharf, 
Boston, was named. 

Ralph Inman was a member of King's Chapel, Boston, and one of the found- 
ers of Christ Church, Cambridge, and its first treasurer. In 1756, he bought 
one hundred and eighty acres of land, lying east of the settled part of Cam- 
bridge, on the north side of Massachusetts avenue, comprising nearly half of 
what is now Cambridgeport. Here, west of Inman street, behind the present 
city hall, he built a large three-storied house. The rooms were spacious, low- 
studded and handsomely paneled; toward Inman street, an outer door led into 
a vestibule, peculiar in form, opening on one side into a long, low apartment, 
looking out on a piazza toward Boston. This room opened into another, with 
fire-place opposite the windows, on either side of which were doors connecting 
with the offices and kitchen. Further along on the same front, was a large 
old-fashioned stairway, leading to the third floor; and beyond this were two 
rooms, connected by folding doors. Behind the first mentioned rooms, were 
another staircase and more rooms. The house was moved, in 1873, to the cor- 
ner of Brookline and Auburn streets, and is still in use and in good condition. 
The piazzas have been removed. 

Mrs. Inman died in 1761, leaving one son and two daughters: Sallie, who 
died unmarried, in 1773, and Susanna, or Sukey, who married Captain John 
Linzee of the navy and was the mother of the British admiral, Samuel 
Hood Linzee. George, the only son, left Boston during the siege and died in 
Grenada, W. I., in 1789. The Cambridge estate was inherited by the four 
daughters of this son, who, with their mother, were brought to this country 
in 1791. Their names were: Mary Ann Riche, Susan Linzee, Hannah Rowe, 
who was the wife of William Tilden, and Sallie Coombe Inman. 

Mr. Inman remained a widower ten years and then married for his second 
wife a notable woman, Elizabeth Murray, of good Scotch family, sister of 
James Murray, Loyalist. She had been already twice married. Her first 
husband was Thomas Campbell, a Scotch merchant and trader who plied be- 
tween Boston and Cape Fear; her second, James Smith, who owned the sugar- 
bakery on Brattle street, Boston, and had amassed a fortune of thirty thou- 
sand pounds. He was seventy years old when they were married in 1760. He 
died in 1769, leaving to his wife the beautiful estate of Brush Hill, Milton, 
and much other property. After his death, she went to visit her old home In 



172 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

Scotland and on her return to Boston accepted the hand of Ralph Inman. 
They had no children. 

When George Inman graduated from Harvard, in 1772, his father gave a 
grand entertainment. John Rowe thus describes it in his diary: 

"July 16, 1772, I went early to Mr. Inman's who made the Genteelest En- 
tertainment I ever saw on acct of his son George taking his degree yesterday 
— he had Three hundred forty seven Gtentlemen & Ladies dined. Two hundred 
& Ten at one Table — amongst the Company The Governor & Family, The 
Lieut Governor «& Family, The Admirall & Family & all the Remainder, 
Gentlemen & Ladies of character & reputation. The whole was conducted 
with much ease & pleasure & all Joyned in making each other Happy — such 
an entertainment has not been made in New England before on any occasion. 
I came to Town say Cambridge & went to the Ball at the Town House, where 
most of the Company went to Dance — they were all very happy & Cheerful 
& the whole was conducted to the General Satisfaction of all present. I re- 
turned to Mr. Inman's & Slept there." 

Another great entertainment was held in this house the first day of Septem- 
ber, of tlie same year, when Sukey, the daughter of Mr. Inman, marrier Cap- 
tain John Linzee, Commander of H. M. S. "Beaver," then in Boston harbor. 
Mr. Rowe's wedding pi'esent to the young couple was an order on his banker 
for twenty pounds every New Tear's Day. Three days after the wedding they 
sailed for England. George went into the office of the Brimmers, in Boston. 
A year later, Septemiber, 1773, Miss Sallie Inman died, so their places were 
filled by Mrs. Inman's nieces and nephew, to whom she was devoted. 

On April 16, 1775, Mr. Rowe records the return of the Linzees with an in- 
fant son, Samuel Hood Linzee. They visited the Rowes and arrived just in 
time to witness the beginning of the Revolution. Mr. Rowe writes: 

"April 19. Last night the Grenadiers & Light Companies belonging to the 
several Regiments in this Town were ferry'd over Charles River & landed in 
Phipps Farm in Cambridge from whence they Proceeded on their way to 
Concord, where they arrived early this day. On their march they had a 
skirmish with some Country People at Lexington. The First Brigade com- 
manded by Lord Percy with Two pieces of Artillery set off from this Town 
this morning about Ten of Clock as a Reinforcement which with the Grenadiers 
& Light Infantry made about eighteen hundred men. The People in the 
Country had notice of this movement early in the Night. Alarm guns were 
fired thro' the Country & Expresses sent off to the Different Towns so that 
very early this morning large Numbers from all Parts of the Country were 
assembled. A General Battle ensued which from what I can learn was Sup- 
ported with Great Spirit on both sides and continued till the King's Troops 
got back to Charlestown wh'ch was n'^ar Sunset. Numbers are killed & 
wounded on Both Sides. Capt. Linzee & Capt. Collins in two Small Armed 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 173 

Vessels were ordered up Charles River to Bring off the Troops to Boston but 
Lord Percy & General Smith thought Proper to encamp on Bunker's Hill 
this Night — this Unhappy affair is a shocking Introduction to all the Miseries 
of a Civil War." 

"April 20. The General sent some more Troops to Charlestown last night 
and this morning, so that Lrord Percy and the Troops under his Command Re- 
turned to Town. This night some People abt. Two hundred Attacked Capt. 
Linzee in the Armed Schooner a little Below Cambridge Bridge, he gave 
them a Warm Reception so that they thought proper to Retreat with the Loss 
of some men. Tis said many thousands of Country People are at Roxbury 
& in the neighborhood. The People in Town are alarmed & the entrench- 
ments on Boston Neck double Guarded. Mrs. Linzee din'd at the Admir- 
all's." 

"April 21. The Reinforcement that was sent to Charlestown by the Genl. 
are Returned too & the 64th Regimt. that was at the Castle are now in Boa- 
ton Town House. All Business at an end & all Communication stop'd be- 
tween the Town & Country. No Fresh Provision of any kind brought to the 
market so that Boston is in a most d'stressed Condition." 

So Mr. Inman, who had probably gone to town, to see his daughter, was 
shut up in Boston and Mrs. Inman was left in Cambridge, with her young 
nephew John Inness Clark. She wrote to Boston under date of Cambridge, 
April 22, 1775, as follows: 

"I have the pleasure to tell my dear friends that I am well, as are all 
under this roof. 

"You know how fond I am of grandeur. I have acted many parts in my 
life, but never imagined I should arrive at the muckle honor of being a 
General; that is now the case. I have a guard at the Bottom of the Garden, 
a number of men to patrol to the Marsh and round the farm, with a body 
guard that now covers our kitchen parlor and now at twelve o'clock they 
are in a sweet sleep while Miss Danforth and I are in the middle parlor with 
a board nailed across the door to protect them from harm. The kitchen 
doors are also nailed. They have the closet for their guns. The end door 
is now very useful. Our servants we put to bed at half past eight. The wo- 
men and children have all left Cambridge, so we are thought wonders. 
Tou know I have never seen troubles at the distance many others have, and 
as a reward the Gods have granted me a Mentor and a Guardian Angel of 
three years of age. They are now in bed together." (The Mentor was Judge 
Danforth, the Angel, one of his grandchildren.) "Pray let their friends know 
he is better and she very well. Mentor bids me tell you that we have 
nothing to fear but from the troops landing near us. These matters you'll 
know more of than we do; therefore we shall wait till we hear from you 
again, which we hope will be time enough to make a safe retreat. There 



174 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

Is not one servant will stay if I go. Poor Creatures, they depend on me for 
protection and I do not chuse to disappoint them, as far as it is in my 
power I will protect them. 

"This day we had a visit of an officer from our headquarters with written 
orders to our guards to attend in a very particular manner to our directions. 
He said we were the happiest folks he had seen. To convince you of that 
I'll tell you how we are employed. Jack Is in the garden, the others are 
planting potatoes. "We intend to make a fence and plant corn next week. To 
show you the goodness of the people, they say we may have what provisions 
we want. Mentor we have raised above us. His Walks are in the upper 
chambers." 

This letter shows bow plucky Mrs. Inman was, and how determined to do 
her best to protect her husband's interests. Mr. Inman wrote soon after the 
closing of the Town that he thought she was as safe in Cambridge as in 
Boston, if she chose to stay there. 

Early in May, Mrs. Inman was arrested on the complaint of Mr. Inman's 
negro man. Job, but she made good her defense and was let go on parole. 
The letters that passed between the Tories in Boston and those at the Inman 
House in Cambridge are most interesting, but too long to be quoted here. 
Many plans were discussed by which the family might be reunited. Point 
Shirley was talked of, where Mr. Inman owned land. One of the islands in 
the harbor was proposed and Leominster, but Mrs. Inman was in favor of 
St. John, N. B. Her brother, James Murray, wrote from Boston, May 23: 

"Of all your plans that of St. John is the most out of the way and im- 
proper. The business of clearing the neighborhood of this town will not be 
so tedious. ... I should think it could be done in two or three weeks. The 
greater the numbers on your side, without experienced Generals, as they are, 
the greater will be the confusion and the more total the rout. One good ef- 
fect of your Army's making a stand and taking their fate on the Spot may 
be to prevent a general Devastation of the Country, which both sides ought 
to deplore and wish to avoid." /' 

On June 13, Mr, Inman wrote her an affectionate note in which he says: 
"I assure you I can content myself In any little Hovell that will afford 
me a Bare Sustinence to have you with me," and urges her to leave farm 
and servants and come into Boston. She reminds him, In her reply, that they 
have no money with which to buy the necessaries of life, at siege prices, 
and continued to raise vegetables and get in hay, both on the Cambridge 
and Milton estates. Colonel Sargeant was as kind to her as was possible, 
and she received favors from other officers. 

Then came the Battle of Bunker Hill. If Mrs. Inman wrote any letter 
describing the horrors of that day. It has not been preserved. Her niece, Mrs. 
Forbes, with her two children, had Joined her and probably Miss Murray was 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 175 

there, too. General Putnam had sent his son, Daniel, a lad not yet sixteen, 
to stay with Mrs. Inman, and in his recollections of the day he tells how, 
after parting- with his father, he went unwillingly to the Inman house. He 
"took no interest" in the conversation of the ladies, and soon retired to his 
room, but not to sleep. Long before the first gun was fired he was up and 
at the window looking' anxiously toward Charlestown. He goes on to say: 
"Mrs. Inman had been all day expecting the British would embark troops 
from the bottom of the Common in Boston and land themi near where the 
Lexington detachment was landed and her attention had been chiefly attract- 
ed to that quarter; but the furious discharge of musketry made it evident 
that they had gone out some other way and were engaged in a battle, the 
issue or consequences of which could not be foreseen. The day was drawing 
towards its close, and, dreading the horrors that might overwhelm her family 
in the night, everything was put in requisition for a hasty removal; but it 
was after sunset, and not till it had been ascertained at Cambridge that the 
British had gained possession of Charlestown Heights, with a loss on both 
sides that none pretended to calculate, that we passed through the scene 
of the confusion there visible, on our way to Brush Hill. We were hastily and 
but imperfectly accoutred for the jaunt, so that it was midnight before we 
reached our destination," (Israel Putnam, by W. P. Livingston.) 

It is not probable that any of the family returned to stay in the Inman 
house after this, but they went back and forth between Milton and Cam- 
bridge, and the nieces even attended balls in Boston. .The house was called 
Barrack No. 1, and held 3,460 soldiers. Colonel Sargeant's regiment was there 
during the winter. In the Massachusetts Archives is an entry that Gen- 
eral Putnaml's headquarters were at the Inman house, which is perhaps the 
authority for the statement to that effect on the tablet standing on Inman 
street. 

January 20, 1776, the "Falcon," with the Linzees and George Inman, sailed 
away from Boston, soon to be followed by a host of other Tories, but not the 
older Inmans. The sugar house in Boston had been used as barracks for the 
British troops and later as an inoculation hospital. Desolation was on all sides. 
On March 23, Mr. Rowe records that his dinner guests that day were "Gen- 
eral Putnam, General Greene, Mr. Inman, Mrs. Inman, her niece, Mrs. Forbes 
and Jack Howe." So what was left of the family celebrated the evacuation 
of Boston. A letter written to Mrs. Barnes, of Marlborough, by her niece, 
dated Cambridge, April 17, 1776, gives a vivid picture of the state of affairs 
after the seat of war removed from this neighborhood: 

"Tou will see by the date of my letter where I am, but you can formi no 
Idea of my situation. . . . Miss Murray and I are in Mr. Inman's house, 
just as it was left by the soldiery, without any one necessary about us, ex- 
cept a bed to lodge on & Patrick for a protector & servant, in constant fear 



176 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

that some outrage will be committeed if it is once discovered that one of 
us Is connected with Mr. Inman, to prevent which everything is done in my 
name, and as soon as it is convenient I am going to let the farm and take 
a family into one end of the house. You would really be diverted, could you 
give a peep when Mrs. Inman visits us (which is as often as she possibly 
c;m), to see Betsey & I resigning our broken chairs «fc teacups, and dipping 
the water out of an iron skillet into the pot as cheerfully as if we were using 
a silver urn. 

"I cannot tell what it Is owing to, unless it is seeing Mrs. Inman in such 
charming spirits, that prevents our being truly miserable. . . No other wo- 
man could do as slie does with impunity, for she is above the little fears 
and weaknesses which are the inseparable companions of most of our sex. 
One would imagine to see her that all was peace and harmony. God grant 

it may be Oh! that imagination could replace the wood lot, the 

willows round the pond, the locust trees that so delightfully ornamented and 
shaded the roads leading to this farm. I say could imagination supply the 
place of those to the former possessor, how happy — but in vain to wish it, 
every beauty of art or nature, every elegance which it cost years of care and 
toil in bringing to perfection, is laid low. It looks like an unfrequented des' 
ert, and this farm is an epitome of all Cambridge, the loveliest village in 
America." . . . 

This lady proposed to let the place for the benefit of the Inmans, but the 
comimittee of correspondence took the matter out of her hands and let it 
ae the property of an absentee, for forty pounds. Later, the Inmans re- 
turned there to live. In a letter from Mrs. Inman to her brother, dated Sep- 
tember 18, 1783, she speaks of the effects of the war and adds: 

"From the most exact computation Mr. I. has lost five thousand pounds 
sterling and lived a great part of the time in the sugar house with only Jack 
Marlebor'h for a servant. As we had only fifty pounds a year, he was ser- 
vant enough. As I did not take paper, this was all we could command. As to 
interest, I have none these nine years, therefore I sold a house as soon as 
hard money came in play and remitted you the money. As to my personal 
expenses, they do not am.ount to fifty pounds sterling these nine years; 
dress I thought needless, as I could neither entertain nor visit, so I took the 
old method to Clout the auld as the new was dear." 

Two years later. May 25, 1785, Mrs. Elizabeth Inman closed her eyes to the 
world she had done so much to make happier for her presence, bitterly 
lamented by her nieces and a large circle of friends. Two nephews, John 
Murray Forbes and Ralph Bennet Forbes lived with the Inmans and cheered 
their last days. Ralph Inman died In July, 1788, and with this event the gay 
colonial life In Cambridge ended. The house and adjoining lands were 
bought by Leonard Jarvls In 1792, and In 1801 passed into the hands of Jona- 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 177 

than Li. Austin, and the estate was cut up into building lots. About 1840, it 
was still a goodly estate, bounded by Massachusetts avenue and Harvard 
street, and extending from Austin street to the Fuller land, just beyond Bige- 
low street. The long, broad walk leading- from the avenue to the door on that 
side of the house was bordered with high box bushes. Mr. Bigelow lived then 
in the old house and is described, by one who remembers him, "as a gentleman 
of the old school, wMo wore the dross of a century or more ago, blue coat, brass 
buttons, knee breeches and buckles, with frilled shirt. His hair was in a 
queue, tied in a piece of black silk. He was the father of the Messrs. Bigelow, 
founders of the firm of Bigelow Brothers and Kennard, jewellers of Boston." 
He lived in the end of the house toward Austin street, a large circle with fine 
trees, one of which is still standing, was between the house and Inman street. 
The other end of the house was occupied by Mr. Bigelow's daughter, the wife 
of Deacon Isaiah Bangs. 

After the death of Mr. Bigelow the estate was sold to Mr. Samuel Allen and 
remained intact for some time. After his death it was bought by Mr. Vinal, 
who sold the house to the man who removed it in 1873. Mr. "Vinal laid out 
Bigelow street and divided the land into house-lots. The lot iu Harvard street 
furnished fine skating for a long time after the rest had been built upon. 

The handsome stone city hall, which stands a little south of the site of the 
old house was the gift of Frederick H. Rindge to the city of Cambridge in 1889. 

, A. M. D. and M. I. J. G. 

(Two interesting books have been freely quoted in this article. They are 
"Letters and Diary of John Rowe," by Anne Rowe Cunningham, and "Letters 
of James Murray, Loyalist," by Nina Moore Tiffany and Susan I. Lesley.) 

FORTIFICATIONS. 

When the British soldiers marched to Lexington and Concord on the 19th 
of April, returning through Cambridge and Charlestown, there were no forts 
from which the Americans might molest them, for until the Declaration of 
Independence, the colonists were all British subjects, although divided, for 
many years previous, in public sentiment. 

Great changes took place in the general aspect of the country around Boston 
after the battle of Lexington. An English offlcer, in 1775, wrote home to his 
family this description of the locality: "The country is most beautifully 
tumbled about in hills and valleys, rivers and woods, interspersed with 
straggling villages, with here and there a spire peeping over the trees, and 
the country of the most charming green that delighted eye ever gazed on." 

IIow different must have been the aspect of the same country as described 
by the Rev. Mr. Emerson, of Concord, in the following abstract: "Who 
would have thought, 12 months past, that all Cambridge would be covered 

12 



178 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

over with American camps, and cut up into forts and intrenchments, and 
all the lands, fields, orchards laid common, horses and cattle feeding in the 
choicest mowing land, whole fields of corn eaten down to the ground, and 
large parks of well regulated locusts cut down for fire-wood and other public 
uses? It is very diverting to walk among the cam.ps. They are as different 
in their forms, as the owners are in their dress, every tent is a portraiture of 
the temper and tastes of the persons who encamp in it. Some are made of 
boards, and some of sail cloth. Some partly of one, and partly of the other. 
Again, others are made of ston?, turf, brick or brush. Some are throv.'n up 
in a hurry; others curiously wrought with doors and windows, done in wreaths 
and withes, in the manner of a basket. Some are your proper tents and mar- 
quees, looking like the regular camp of the enemy.' 

After the Battle of Bunker Hill, on June 17, 1775, it became necessary to 
protect the large army quartered at Cambridge and Somerville; therefore, 
General Putnam took his men no farther away from Charlestown than Pros- 
pect Hill, Somerville, where he ordered intronchments to be thrown up, thus 
commanding the pass at Charlestown Neck. General Washington arrived in 
Cambridge on the 2nd of July, 1775, to take command of the army. 

His first duty was to inspect the fortifications. In various letters he writes 
as follows: "On our side we have thrown up intrenchments on Winter and 
Prospect Hills, the enemy's camp in view, little more than a mile away." 
"About 200 rods below the college we have a redoubt, which begins the line; 
then about 60 rods from that another redoubt, and lines continued nearly 100 
rods. Then at Charlestown Road, on the west side of the road at the foot 
of Prospect Hill, another redoubt and strong fortification." "I have visited 
the posts occupied by our troops when the weather permitted, and recon- 
noitred those of the enemy. The latter are strongly entrenched on Bunker 
Hill, also a battery on Copps' Hill, which much annoyed our troops in the 
last attack." 

During the summer, fall and winter of 1775-6, the American forces were at 
work under the orders of the commander-in-chief, in enlarging and strength- 
ening their line of fortifications. The British continually fired into the Am- 
erican lines, while they were at work — doing, however, little damage to life 
or limb. The Americans were only able to return the fire at rare intervals, 
owing to the lack of ammunition; this lack was most keenly felt by General 
Washington, who scarcely dared to let his officers know the desperate straits 
to which his army was subjected. General Putnam was unable to restrain 
his impatience at this trying time; his temper was expressed in a letter of 
one of his subordinates who writes: "Everything thaws but Old Put, whose 
daily cry Is, 'Powder, powder, ye gods, give us powder." It is said that, while 
the Americans were at work on the forts and intrenchments, the balls of the 
British were falling around them— and the men would drop pick and shovel 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 179 

to race after the balls which had missed their mark— and at the end of their 
day's work — would take account of stock to see which one had secured the 
greatest number of balls. 

In all probability, the first fort to be thrown up under Washing-ton's orders 
was Fort No. 1, on the river front. It is a matter of tradition that here 
Washington threw out the first shovel full of earth. Fort No. 2 was on But- 
ler's Hill, now Dana Hill. Fort No. 3 was just across the Cambridge line, in 
Somerville, on the east side of Prospect Hill. At Lechmere's Point was a 
strong redoubt called Fort Putnam. These forts were connected for de- 
fense by trenches and earthworks, some traces of which have remained in 
the city until within the last fifteen years. The river front was protected 
by two half-moon batteries, one at Pine Grove, on Oyster Bank, and the 
other at Captain's Island. Washington refers to these in a letter written in 
November, 1775: "I have caused two half-moon batteries to be thrown up 
for occasional use, between Lechmere's Point and the mouth of Cambridge 
River, and another work at the causey going to Lechmere's Point to command 
that Pass." 

The line of fortifications in Cambridge can be traced as follows, beginning 
at Fort No. 1 at the river, now the site of the Riverside Press, in a north- 
easterly direction to Fort No. 2, on Dana Hill, thence a little more to the 
east, where was the strong fort at Prospect Hill, which commanded Cam- 
bridge. Southeast of Prospect Hill was the formidable fortress. Fort Putnam, 
and near this, on the river front, a small battery, thence up the river to the 
battery at the foot of Allston street, now called Fort Washington, then a 
little farther up the river the battery at Captain's Island, at the foot of Mag- 
azine street, which brings us back to Fort No. 1, not many rods away. 

This line of forts across the land was continued through Somerville and 
Medford, on the east, until the Mystic River was reached, and on the west 
through Brookline, Roxbury and Dorchester to Boston Harbor, thus cutting 
off the British in Boston and Charlestown from obtaining supplies by land. 
There is hardly a trace to be found of these forts of the American Revolu- 
tion. Most of them are marked by tablets erected by the city government. 

The three-gun battery at the foot of Allston street retains the semblance of 
a fort, and is called Fort Washington. The land where this battery was 
thrown up had been held in common from the close of the Revolution till 
1S57, when it was deeded to the city by the following persons: Edmund T. 
and Elizabeth Hastings, Mary E. Dana, Joseph A. and Penelope Willard, John 
and Hannah S. Bartlett. A fund of $800 was also turned over to the city, by 
these people who had cared for this plot of historic land. The conditions 
named in the deed were as follows: "That the above premises when suitably 
enclosed and adorned by said city, shall forever remain open for light, air, and 
ornament, for the convenience and accommodation of the owners of estates 
in said Pine Grove and of the Public genarally." 



180 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

The city accepted this gift, and with the assistance of the commonwealth 
of Massachusetts proceeded to restore this battery to its original condition, to 
build a substantial fence around it and and to erect a fiag-stafC. The secretary 
of war gave three thirty-pounder guns, and the secretary of the navy gave 
the gun carriages. The state legislature voted to appropriate the sum of 
$2,000, "provided the city of Cambridge shall appropriate a sum sufficient to 
complete said fence at a cost not less than four thousand dollars, and said 
Fort Washington shall always be accessible to the public, and that same city 
of Cambridge shall always keep the fence proposed to be built, in good repair." 

In the fall of 1900, the attention of the Hannah Winthrop Chapter, N. S. 
D. A. R., was called to the neglected condition of this old fort. The fence was 
badly in need of repair, and the three guns were pointing towai-ds heaven in 
as many angles. After various interviews with the mayors, park commis- 
sioners and members of the city council, in 1903, the city government voted to 
repair the fence and restore this sole remaining relic of the forts of the 
Revolution. 

"Let no unpatriotic hand destroy this Revolutionary relic, now known as 
Fort Washington." 

A. L. L. W. 

THOMAS GRAYES-ATHERTON HAUGH HOUSE. 

A previous chapter has stated that Thomas Dudley built the first house in 
Cambridge and that it stood on Dunster street. That is true if we consider 
only the settlement made in the spring of the year 1631; but, for more than a 
year before that time, there had been standing within the bounds of the New- 
towne that was to be, a comfortable house surrounded by gardens and fields 
laid out by a man practiced in choosing a good site for a home. 

On the tenth of March, 1628-29, the Massachusetts Bay Company in England 
agreed with Thomas Graves, a skilful engineer of Gravesend in the county of 
Kent, to lay out the town of Charlestown, and promised to pay him, if he 
stayed in their service, fifty pounds a year, to give him a house and land to live 
on. The agreement reads: "And in case the said Comp [after I] shall have 
continued 6 or 8 months in the country — shall desyre my con- 
tynuance — doe hereby pmise to bee at the chardge of the transportacon 
to Newe England of my wiffe, ffyve children, a boy and a mayd servant — 
and there to assyne me one hundred acres of land and to have pte thereof 
planted at the compainies cliardge against the coming of my Efameley." 

Thomas Graves arrived at Salem during the first week in July, 1629, in the 
fleet with Higginson. Later he laid out the town of Charlestown, directed 
the building of the palisade and the Great House. He liked the new land 
and wrote home of It: "It Is a goodly country, rich— I never saw a richer 
except Hungaria— corn and cattle dOD prosper — in Iron it excelleth." He 




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HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 181 

was one of the council, trained the men in use of arms, was consulted often 
about division of lands, but litt e is known of him, after all, except that 
he was Mudely traveled and of great skill, "experienced in the discovery and 
finding- out of iron mynes — in fCortificacons of all sorts — in surveyinge of 
buildings and lands and in measuringe of land, in describing a country by 
mappe." That he stayed a few years is certain, for he was living on his hun- 
dred acres in the uplands of what is now East Cambridge when, March 
6, 1632, the boundaries of Charlestown and Newtowne were fixed, for in the 
Massachusetts Bay Records we find this statement: "First it is agreed that 
all the lands impaled by Newe To-wne men with the necke thereunto ad- 
joyueing whereon Mr. Graves dwelleth shall belong to said New Towne." 

That the house was large we infer, for the five children needed room, and 
probably it was much like those built later by Dudley and Bradstreet, 
square, spacious, such as a man of the great world would demand. Around 
it were cultivated lands promised him by the Massachusetts Bay Com- 
pany — the hundred acres of the agreement. Why the owner left, or where 
he went we do not know; whether, his work done, he returned to England, 
or whether he was that Thomas Graves who in 1640 laid out the town of 
Woburn, we ca.nnot say, but in the "Rjgistere Booke of the lands and Hous- 
es in the Newtowne" under the record of the 10th of October, 1635, the 
house became the property of another. 

"Atterton: Hough. In Graues his Necke Aboute one hundred and Thirty 
Ackers with one Dwelinge house and outhouses:" Mr. Atherton Haugk 
was a man of means, assistant to the General Court, 1635-36, and later 
deputy. He lived in the neck — now the Haugh farm — purchasing adjoining 
lots till in 1642 it contained three hundred acres, but before that time he had 
returned to Boston to live. He died in his house on the corner of Washing- 
ton and School streets and the estate fell to his son. Rev. Samuel Haugh, 
who left it to his son, Samuel, who died leaving it much encumbered. In 
1679, the widow of this Samuel asked permission of the general court to sell 
part of it to satisfy the debts of the estate, which permission was granted, 
and in 1699 the farm became the property of John Langdon for 1,140 
pounds, and on August 15, 1706, he sold it to Spencer Phips, who went there 
to live. 

Tradition has it that Phips, afterward lieutenant-governor, built himself 
a mansion on what Is now Otis street, and that, during the housewarming 
and husking given to welcome his kin and his friends, the house was 
burned. If that Is so, he built another on Plymouth street, near Berkshire, 
and of this we shall need to speak later. But when he died in 1757, his 
homestead was on Arrow street, near Bow, the Winthrop place. In the in- 
ventory made by Phips, the estate Is called two farms, with a house and 
a barn on each — the Bordman hou"e on Plymouth street just mentioned. 



182 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

and the old Haugh house — (Thomas Graves's home) on the northerly side 
of what is now Spring street, between Third and Fourth streets; In all, 326 
acres, which were divided among the children and grrandchildren: Colonel 
David Phips, Sarali, wife of Andrew Bordman, Mary, wife of Richard 
Lechmere, Rebecca, wife of Judge Joseph Lee, and the children of Eliza- 
beth, deceased wife of Colonel John Vassall, most of whom you have al- 
ready met in their homes in Tory Row. 

LECHMERE POINT IN THE REVOLUTION. 

Richard Lechmere bought Colonel David Phips's share, that of the Vassall 
heirs, which, added to that of his wife, made up what was henceforth 
called, from him, Lechmere's Point. The highlands of Phips farm were 
shut off from what is now Cambridgeport by the Great Marsh, which, 
overflowing at high tide, made an island only to be reached by boat from 
Boston or from the Charlestown side (now Somerville) by the bridge over 
Willis's creek (Miller's river). The road from the centre of Cambridge ran 
to Charlestown and met the bridge, by which one must cross to get to the 
point. There was a causeway on the point side which was often under 
water. 

On the north, at Plymouth street, was the Bordman estate where Andrew 
Bordman, Jr., lived with his wife in the old homestead of Spencer Phips. 
Beyond were the woods, extending nearly to Harvard square, separating 
these two farms from the Inman estate and the Soden estate near the 
river. These four were the only houses in 1793 below Butler's hill, where 
Judge Francis Dana had bis liome. Beyond woods and marshes rose the 
fields of Lechmere point, inaccessible except by the causeway over Miller's 
creek, or some roads in the marsh over which wagons took meadow hay 
to the Bordman farm. In the old farm house lived Hobart Russell, a rela- 
tive of that Jason Russell killed by Gage's troops at Menotomy on their re- 
turn from Concord. He died in 1782, drowned as he was crossing from 
Boston to East Cambridge. 

Such was the point on that memorable 18th of April, 1775, when Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel Smith, of the Tenth, landed his 800 British soldiers at the old 
farm. The story goes that one of his men was taken ill, was left here, 
and found his way to the old house; that the alarm was given from here 
which sent the Cambridge company so quickly on the way to Concord. Si- 
lently — unnoticed It would have been if Gage's secrets had not been be- 
trayed — the British regulars crept over the side of the hill, by the cause- 
way, now Gore street, by the bridge over Miller's river to the Charlestown 
side, then by Milk Row road to Beech street. North avenue, and on to Lex- 
ington to surprise the stores at Concord. 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 183 

In 1880, Cambridge placed a tablet on the sidewalk on Second street 
near Otis, on the easterly side of the courthouse yard, bearing this in- 
scription. 

"Near This Spot 
800 British Soldiers 
From Boston Common 
Landed April 19th, 1775, 
On Their March to 
Lexington and Concord." 

The story of that march has been too well told for one to tell it here, 
but on this spot began that fight which wrenched the colonies from the 
crown and made them free and independent. After the battle of Bunker 
Hill, the Americans feared an attack on Cambridge, so they hastened to 
fortify all the heights on this side of the river. Ploughed hill, Cobble hill. 
Prospect hill and along the ridge of Butler's hill to the Charles. When 
Washington came in July, 1775, he hoped to use the forts thus made in 
attacking Boston, but his generals thought it impracticable, and congress 
forbade it. Lacking arms, powder, ordnance, with less than 9,000 men in 
the army, with old men retiring and new ones to be recruited, he still hoped 
on. Why the British did not attack the Americans is as much of a mys- 
tery to the student of military tactics as it was to Washington himself, 
but he kept on, and two half-moon batteries were planted commanding the 
space between the mouth of the Charles river and Lechmere point; 
also one at the causeway protecting the point itself. 

On November 9, Lieutenant Clark, with 400 men, landed at high tide at 
Lechmere point, protected by the frigate "Cerberus" and floating batteries. 
Colonel Thompson came at once onto the point with his riflemen, forded 
the causeway to the island, fired on the British troops, who were just em- 
barking, taking with them tlie ten cattle they had captured. In this skir- 
mish two Americans were dangerously wounded and General Washington 
regarded it as the preliminary to a general attack, and went on strength- 
ening his lines. The capture by Captain Manly of the ordnance brig, 
"Nancy," in Boston bay, came just in time to equip the works. A thir- 
teen-inch mortar was greeted with the warmest welcome and christened 
"Congress" by Israel Putnam, with Major Mifllin as sponsor, and on the 
night of November 29, 1775, Washington erected on the hill at Lechmere 
point a bomb battery, which, in spite of cold and snow, was carried to 
completion. A new causeway was built, December 12, over the marsh, and 
on December 16, a covered way nearly to the top of the hill. 

On the 17th of December, General Putnam was ordered to break ground 
near the water side, half a mile only from the British man-of-war. Be- 
cause of the fog, the party was not discovered till noon, when the ship 



184 HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 

opened fire and with shell from Barton's point, now Leverett street, Bos- 
ton, drove the Americans off the hill. One man was wounded in this en- 
gagement. The next day, General Heath went on with the work. The sol- 
diers, accustomed to the firing, were not to be driven away. The 18- 
pounders from Cobble hill, Somerville, protected them. In the afternoon of 
that day, Washington and his generals came to the point and up the way 
to the hill, to inspect the new fort, which was to bring him so much nearer 
the fulfillment of his hopes. Two redoubts had been made, one for -a 
mortar, and the fort at Lechmere point became the most important of all 
those about Boston. "Give us powder and authority and Boston can be 
set in flames," wrote Colonel Moylan. All through December the work 
went on under fire from the British. "Congress" was placed in the re- 
doubt, all ready, should authority be given by its namesake to start the 
bombardment. Not until the last of February were the works complete. 
Then came the heavy artillery from Crown point and Ticonderoga. Colonel 
Knox ordered Burbeck, his lieutenant-colonel, to arm the batteries at Lech- 
mere point with two IS- and two 24-pounders to be taken from Prospect 
hill. On the 26th of February, General Washington announced that they 
had been placed there and that two platforms for mortars had been erected, 
but the powder was still Licking. 

FORTS ON LECHMERE POINT. 

At last, in March, began that attack which drove Howe and Clinton 
from Boston, and on March 17, 1776, General Washington wrote to Governor 
Cooke: "I have the pleasure to inform you that this morning the minis- 
terial troops evacuated the town of Boston without destroying it, and that 
we are now in full possession." Lechmere point played a great part in the 
siege of Boston, for it was within a half mile of the enemy and its guns 
closest to Boston. The British knew that its completion meant their 
downfall. A visitor to the fortifications about Boston in 1822 describes 
Fort Putnam, as tlie redoubt was afterward called, as the one showing 
most science in its construction, having, too, a wider and deeper fosse than 
other fortifications. He saw with regret the hill disappearing and the old 
bastions used for workshops, where carpenters prepared the wooden parts 
of the church then being built for the Methodist society — "the bastions 
whence cannon were once directed at the town of Boston." The redoubt 
wag in shape of an angle with the tip facing nearly east, the bastions at 
the ends, the northern one where Mr. Quinn's house now stands on the top 
of the hill, corner of Fourth and Otis streets, opposite the Putnam School, 
and the southern near the corner of Thorndike and Third streets. Otia 
street was laid out through the old fort. 

In 1799, Andrew Craigle bought all these lands from the Lechmere fam- 



HISTORIC GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE 185 

ily for less than J20,C00. The Lechmere Point Land Corporation was 
formed, and Craigie bridg-e built in 1809 froan Barton's point to the East 
Cambridge side. Building began, a road was made through the old woods 
to the college — the road which is now Cambridge street — and in 1816, at 
a cost of $24,000 to the corporation, the county buildings were built here, 
on land presented by it to the city. "The glacis, counterscarp, embrasures 
are fast disappearing, builders are completing the destruction of the 
strongest battery erected by the army of America, and thus achieving 
without opposition that which an enemy could not effect. A causeway 
made across the marsh which crosses the brow of the hill and the lines 
which flanked Willis's Creek are still perfect and may be traced with great 
facility," says the visitor already mentioned. 

LECHMERE POINT. 

Until about 1820, near Fort Putnam, below it, and not far from the spot 
where Colonel Smith landed his troops, lay the old Haugh farm house, 
part of which was built for Thomas Graves, engineer, skilled in "fforti- 
flcacons," and then one Dudley, taking possession without consent of the 
Lechmere Point Land Company, and refusing to move, the house was torn 
down over his head, after standing on the same spot for more than one 
hundred and eighty-five years. Mr. Samuel Slocum, late treasurer of the 
East Cambridge Savings Bank, saw the old house pulled down. There is 
nothing now to show where it once stood. 

In the wall of the Putnam School is a stone tablet which reads: 

"The Site of 

Fort Putnam 

Erected by the American Forces 

Dec. 1775, 

During the Siege of Boston." 

Local history in East Cambridge has received little attention, but here 

stood the first house built in the bounds of what now is Cambridge; here 

the British landed in April, 1775; and from here General Washington, in 

the fort built by Israel Putnam and General Heath, directed his guns 

with such deadly effect that the British troops were driven out of the town 

of Boston. It was the most important fortification on this side of the 

Charles river. How full of interest it is to all Cambridge citizens, especially 

to those born on the site of old Fort Putnam itself! 

H. E. McI. 



INDEX 



Abbott, Daniel, 69 

Acacia street, 99 

Academy of Arts and Sciences, 6, 167 

Adams House, 94 

Adams, Abigail (Mrs. John), 47, 78, 167. 170 

Esther (Sparhawk), 36 

Henry, 59 

John, 45, 87, 105, 115, 165, 166, 167, 168 

John Quincy, 167, 170 

Phineas, 68 

Robert, 68 

William, 94, 95, 98, 99 
Addington, England, 77 
Addingtnn, faniil}', 83 
Agassiz House, 128 
Agassiz Museum. 163 

Agreement to embarlt for New England, 10 
Albone, Sister, 93 
Aldrich, Thomas Bailey, 118 
Aldus, Nathan, 54 
Alewife Brook, 145 
Alexis, Grand Duke, 24 
Alford, Elizabeth, 83 
Allen — Cooke House, 40 
Allen, Ethan, 125 

James, 86 

Mary (Cleveland), 80 

Matthew, 40, 50 
Allston street, 168, 179 
Allston, Martha R. (Dana), 25 

Washington, 25, 137 
"Ambrose," 34 
"American Annals," 159 
Ames, Dr., 51, 160 

Elizabeth, 160 

Ruth, 51 
Amherst, 155 
Amiens, Siege of, 2 
Ammunition, lack of, 178 
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Co., 86 
Andover, 22, 33, 159, 164 
Andrew, Samuel, mariner, 57 

Samuel the Younger, 57 

Secth, 38 

Thomas, 154 

William, 38, 58 
Andros, Governor, 60, 162 
Angier House, 51 
Angier, Abiel, 37, 148 



Angier, Dorothy, 58 

Edmund, 51, 58, 148 

Edmund, Jr., 37 

Elizabeth, 52 

Hannah (Oakes), 51 

Ruth, 51 

Ruth (Ames), 51 

Rev. Samuel, 51 

Samuel, Jr., 52 

Sarah, 52 
Annesley, Mary (Cooke), 40 

Samuel, 40 
Anniversary, 250th, of founding of Cambridge, 

16 
Antigua, 88, 96, 111 
Appinn Way, Cambridge, 66, 128 
Appleton Chapel, 24, 26 
Appleton pasture, 28 
Appleton street, 92 
Appleton, Captain John, 43 

Frances, 103 

John, of Ipswich, 91 

Nathan, 103 

Rev. Nathaniel, 13, 19, 165, 166 

Nathaniel Walker, 8 

Priscilla (Glover), 43 

Samuel of Boston, 26 

Thomas Gold, 89 
Apthorp House, 75-80, 106 
Apthorp, Anne (Crich), 77 

Charles, 75 

Charles Ward, 78 

Rev. East, 75-78, 129 

Elizabeth (Hutchinson), 75 

Kev. Frederick, 77 

George, 78 

Grizzell, 75 

Grizzell (Eastwicke), 75, 130 

James, 129 

Susan, 76, 79, 80 
"Arbella, The," 2, 34 
Arlington, 14, 63 
Arlington Line, 148 
Arnold, Governor Benedict, 50 

Freelove, 50 

Godsgift, 50 
Arrow street, 81, 82, 181 
Ash street, 6, 84, 92, 94, 95 
Astronomy, Depiartment of, 25 



188 



INDEX 



Atkinson, Theodore, 43 

Attleborough, 156 

Auburn Grammar School, 67 

Auction of text-books, 22 

Austin Hall, 160 

Austin House, 149-152 

Austin street, 177 

Austin, Catherine (Gerry), 116 

Deborah (Lee), 109 

Colonel James T., 116 

Jones, 52 

Jonathan L., 177 

Martha (Frost), 151, 152 

Richard, 108 

Rev. Richard Thomas, 68, 152 

Susan, 152 

Thomas, 152 



Bailey, Mr., 170 

Bainbridge House, 57 

Bainbridge, Guy, 57, 126 

Bainbridge, Justice, 57 

Baker, Mrs., 154 

Baldwin, Loami, 32 

Balehoult, Lancashire, England, 61 

Bancroft House, 94 

Bancroft, Aaron, 68 

George, 22 

Roger, 94, 95 

Thomas, 68 
Bangs, Deacon, Isaiah, 177 
Baptist Church, 160 
Barbadoes, 153 
Barker, Caroline T., 104 
Barnaby, Archdeacon Andrew, 77 
Barnes, Mrs., 175 
Barrett House, 52 
Barrett, William, 52 
Barron, Lucy, 121 

Jonathan, 121 
Bartlett, Hannah S., 179 

John, 8, 68, 155, 179 
Barton's Point, 184, 185 
Batchelder, Charles Foster, 160 

Samuel, 98, 140 

Samuel Francis, 134 
Bates, Betsey, 141 

Sergeant Joseph, 138 

Persis, 141 
Bath, Earl of, 166 
Bath Lane, see Ash street, 94 
Batson, Sarah, 70, 91 
Battersea Rise, England, 142 
Bayliss, Dr., 97 note 
Bean, Cutting, 47 

Susanna (Stacey), 47 

Thomas, 47 
Beck Hall, 165 
Bedford, 145 
Beech street, 7, 144, 182 
Belcher House, 94-99 
Belcher, Andrew, 37, 85, 96 



Belcher, Andrew, Jr., 37, 93, 96 

Andrew, grandson of Governor, 98 
Elizabeth, 93 
Elizabeth (Danforth), 37 
Governor Jonathan, 37, 83, 96, 137, 140 
Governor Jonathan, Jr., 139 
Martha, 96 
Mary (Partridge), 96 
Bell in first meeting-house, 11 
Bellingham, Governor, 49 
Bellingham, Penelope (Pelbam), 49 
Bellows, Rev. Dr., 102 
Benjamin, John, 59 
Bennett, Dr. David, of Rowley, 82 

Rebecca (Spenser), 82 
Berkeley place, 99 
Berkeley street, 99 
Berkshire street, 181 
Bernard, Governor Francis, 86, 130 
Bertram Hall, 128 
Besbeech, Thomas, 70 
Betts, John, 21, 28, 70-71 
Biddeford, Maine, 104 
Bigamist, punishment of, 60, 61 
Bigelow estate, 28 
Bigelow, Mr., 177 
Bilboa, 97 
Billerica, 12, 139 
" Bishop's Palace," 75-80, 131 
Blackburn, portrait by, 76 
Blodgett House, 52 
Blodgett, ThoniHS, 52 
Blowers House, 92, 139 
Blowers, Elizabeth, wife of Pj'am, 93 

Elizabeth, 93 

Emma (Woodbury), 93 

Captain Pyam, 93 

Rev. Thomas, 93 
Blue Anchor Tavern, 36, 37, 60, 155 
Bond, Richard, 25 
Boott, Francis, 89 

Bordman House, Cambridgeport, 181-182 
Bordman House, Harvard square, 54-56 
Bordman, Mr., 129 

Aaron, 35, 55, 168 

Abigail (Hastings), 154 

Andrew, 36, 55 

Andrew, Jr., 55 

Andrew, 3rd, 55, 82, 182 

Andrew, 4th, 55 

Elizabeth (Trusdale), 55 

Mary (Townsend), 55 

Moses, 54 

Captain Moses, 55 

Rebecca, widow, 53 

Rebecca, 54 

Ruth, daughter of Andrew Sen., 55 

Ruth, daughter of Andrew Jr., 56 

Ruth (Bull), 55 

Sarah (Phips), 55, 82, 182 

William, 54 
Borland House, 75, 78, 79 
Borland, Mr., 44 



INDEX 



189 



Borland, Anna (Vassall), Mrs. John, 78, 100, 
111 

Francis, 78 

Jane, 79 

John, 78, 79 

John Lindall, 78 

Leonard Vassall, 57 

Samuel, 78 

Thomas, 78 
Boston Bay, 183 
Boston Common, 8, 175 
Boston Court, held quarterly, 29 
Boston Gazette, 86 
Boston Latin School, 165 
Bosville, Elizabeth, 48 

Godfrey, 48 
Botanic Garden, 149 
Bow street, 37, 96, 161, 164, 181 
Bowdoin College, 152 
Bowdoin, Governor James, 
Bowers House, 143 
Bowers, Bemanuel, 143 

Elizabeth (Dunster), 143 

Elizabeth (Richardson), 157 

George, 143 

Rev. James, of Billerica, 157 

Jerathmeel, 143 

John, 68 
Boylston Hall, 25, 26, 65 note 
Boylston street (Wood), 1, 4, 6, 8, 33, 54, 60, 84 
Brackett, Dr. Joshua, of Portsmouth, 94 
Bradford, N. H., 103 
Bradford, Governor, 105 
Bradish's tavern, 36, 155 
Bradish, Ebenezer, 37, 60, 74 

Eunice (Cooke), 74 

John, 41, 60 

Joseph, 60 

Joseph, Jr., the pirate, 60 

Robert, 59 

Vashti, 59, 60 

William, 60 
Bradstreet House, 33-35 
Bradstreet, Anne (Dudley), 4, 33-35 

Anne (Downing) Gardner, 35 

Mercy, 81 

Rev. Samuel, 34, 81 

Governor Simon, 4, 8, 9, 33-35, 81, 181 
Braintree, 84, 90, 95 
Braintree, Essex Co., England, 90 
Braintree Company, 11 
Braintree street (Harvard square), 1, 8 
Brattle Hall, 84 

Brattle House, 19, 84, 89, 98, 155 
Brattle square (Creek Lane), 1, 83 
Brattle street, 5, 7, 61, 70, 82, 83-111, 121, 126, 

130 
Brattle Street Church, Boston, 85 
Brattle tomb, 155 
Brattle, Elizabeth (Gerrish) Green, 85 

Elizabeth (Hayman), 85 

Elizabeth (Tyng), 85 

Katharine (Saltonstall), 85 



Brattle, Martha (Fitch) Allen, 86 

Thomas, 85 

Thomas the younger, 86, 88, 89, 142 

Rev. William, 13, 19, 82, 85 

General William, 85-86, 156 
Bremer, Frederika, 117 
Brett, Captain, 109 

Rebecca, 109 
Brew House, 24 
Brewster, William, 108 
Bridge, The Great, 5 
Bridge, Anne (Danforth), 93 

Deacon John, 59, 70, 93, 95, 125 

Mathew, 93 

Samuel James, 126, 163 
Bridgewater, 41 

Brig, Capture of Ordinance, 87, 183 
Brigham, Mercy (Hurd), 90 

Thomas, 90 
Bright, Elizabeth, 153 

Deacon Henry, of Watertown, 153 
Brighton, 4, 5, 12, 13 
Brighton street, see Boylston 
British troops, route of, 7, 175, 182-184 
Broadway, 164, 166 
Brock, Sir, 54 
Brookline, 12 

Brooks, Phillips, House, 27 
Brooks, Peter C, 26 

Phillips, 22, 27 
Brown, James, of Antigua, 111 

Marj', of Lexington, 121 

Susanna, 127 
Brush Hill, Milton, 171, 175 
Bucklej', John, 25 
Buckminster family, 35 
Buildings in College Yard, plan of, 24 
Bulfinch, Dr., 131 

Charles, 24, 76 

Susan (Apthorp), 76, 77, 80 

Thomas, 76 
Bull, Ole, 118 

Ruth, 56 

Samuel, 95, 99 
"Bundle of Old Letters," 97 note 
Bunker Hill, Battle of, 7, 40, 83, 126, 1.37, 1S9, 

159, 174, 178, 183 
Bunker Hill, British entrenched on, 178 
Bunker, John, 36, 51 

Rebecca (Eaton), 36, 51 
Burbeck, Lieutenant-Colonel, 184 
Burial-place of Revolutionary soldiers, 114 
Burgoyne, General, 38, 78, 79, 106 
Burgoyne's officers, 7, 38 
Burgoyne's prison, 75, 78, 79 
Burgoyne's troops, 7, 8 
Burke, Mr., captured, 88 
Burnham Hall, 92 
Burnham, G. W., 68 
Burrington, Somerset, England, 171 
Bury, Lancashire, England, 61 
Bury St. Mary, Suffolk, England, 49 
Burymg Ground, 134-139, 157, 165, 168 



190 



INDEX 



Bush tavern, 143 
Butler's Hill, 166, 182, 183 
Byfield, 69 



Cabot, Andrew, 114 
Cahill, Captain Edward, 130 
Cambridge, England, 10, 21, 53 
Cambridge, boundaries of, streets of, I 

name changed, 21 

" Thirty years ago," 8, 9 

seat of government, 123 
Cambridge Bay, view of, 169 
Cambridge Farms, see Lexington 
Cambridge Platform, 12 
Cambridge street, 6, 161, 164, 185 
Cambridgeport, 164, 168, 177, 179-180, 182 
Camp, Revolutionary, 124, 178 
Campbell, Elizabeth (Murray), 171 

Thomas, 171 
Canal. 5, 95 
Cane houses, 39, 57 
Cane, Cliristopher, 39, 57 

Nathaniel, 39 

Ruth, 39 
Canon's, Ashby, 34 
Cannon on common, 125 
Capen, Priscilla, 43 
Captain's Island, 4, 179 
Carpenter, Benjamin, 109 

Deborah, 109 
Carter, Anna, 144 

Rev. Thomas, 158 
" Castle Corners," 127 
Carteret, De, Abii^ail, 63 
Causewav, now Boylston street, 6, 7, 33 

now Gore street, 182, 183 
Cedar street. 143, 145 
"Cerberus, The," 183 
Chadwick, Charles, of Watertown, 154 

Elizabeth (Fox), 154 

John White, 152 
Champnev, Downing, 156 

Elder Richard, 52, 60 

Joanna, 139 

John, 93 

Joseph, of Billerica, 52 

Lydia, 91 

Mary, 93, 157 

Rebecca, 38 

Samuel, 60 

Sarah, 52 

Widow, 93 
Channing family, 35 
Channing street, 114 
Channing, Rev. William Ellery, 169 
Charlestown, 4, 5, 21, 63, 85, 97, 144, 157, 1C5, 

173, 177, 180 
Charlestown End, 63 
Charlestown Line, 161 
Charlestown Neck, 178 
Charle.stown Road, 178 
Charter Oak, 60, 90 



Charter street hurying-ground, Salem, 35 
Chauncy street, 6 

Chauncy, President Charies, 17, 28, 63, 135 
Cheever, Daniel, 32 

Israel, 32 

Rev. Samuel, 51 

Ruth (Angler), 51 
Chelmsford, 121, 143 
Cherry street, 169 note 
Chesholme, Deacon Thomas, 36, 50 
Chester's company, 132 
Chimneys, ancient, 94, 107 
Choate.Ciiaries F., 110 

Rufus, 22 
Cholera House, 55 
Christ Church, 16, 92, 100, 109, 128-134, 142, 

168, 171 
Church, Dr. Benjamin, 97 
Church Row, 94 
Church street, 8, 109 
Churches in Cambridge, 1904, 16 
Civil War, monument to soldiers killed m, 125 
Clarens, Mrs., 92 
Clark. Christopher, 39 

Elizabeth, 72 

James, 72 

John Inness, 173 

Lieutenant, 183 

S;illy, 157 
Clarke House, 72 
Clarke, Elizabeth, 72 

Elizabeth (Cook), 72, 153 

Elder Jonas, 72, 57, 153 

Pitt, 68 

Rev. James Freeman, 23 

Sarah, 72 
Class Tree, 27 
Cleveland, Mary, 80 
Clifton, England, 101 
Clinton, General, 184 
Cobb Brothers, designers of soldiers' monument 

125 
Cobble Hill, 183, 184, 187 
Codman, Captain, of Charlestown, 31 
Cogswell avenue, 147 
Coleman, Benjamin, 110 

Judith, 110 

Thomas, 68 
College, see Harvard College 
College Hall, 13 
College House, 8 
College Yard, 20-28 
Collins, Captain, 172 

Edward. 54, 75 
Commencement Day, 23 
Common, Boston, 8, 175 

Cambridge, 6, 29, 59, 70, 122-125 
Comptou, Lord, 2, 4 
Concord, 28, 58, 60, 97, 158, 177, 182 
Concord avenue, 67 note 
Coney, Mehitabie. 162 
Congregational church, 69 
Congregational churches, 12 



INDEX 



191 



Congress, Continental, 166, 167 

First Provincial, 15, 97, 115, 148 

Second Provincial, 97 note 
Congressional burial-ground, 1 10 
Connecticut, Governor of, 42, !)0 
Constitution, Convention on, 15, 29, 38, 147, 167 
Convalescent Hospital, 97 note 
Converse, Anna (Sparhawk), 36 

James, 68 

James, of Woburn, 36 
Cook, Elizabeth, 72, 153 

John, 169 

Sarah, 145 
Cooke-Holyoke house, 72-74 
Cooke, Alice, 40 

Colonel George, 40, 72-73 

Elizabeth, 40 

Elizabeth (Stratton), 74 

Eunice, 74 

Governor, 184 

Joseph, 4, 25, 39, 72-73, 165 

Joseph, Jr., 73 

Joseph, 3rd, 73 

Joseph, 4th, 73 

Martha (Stedman), 73 

Mary, 40 

Rev. Samuel, 14 
Coolidge avenue, 120 
Coolidge, Archibald Carv, 80 

H. C, 80 

Joseph, 58 

Sarah, 51 

Stephen, 51, 68 
Cooper, Anna (Sparhawk), 36, 150 

Deacon John, 36, 141, 144, 149, 150, 151, 
156 

Elizabeth, 144 

Hannah (Hastings), 150, 153 

John, Jr., 141, 143, 144 

Lydia, 141 

Lj'dia, daughter of John, 156 

Lydia (Kidder), 150 

Martha, 150 

Samuel, 150, 151 

Sarah, 144 

Walter, 150 

Walter, Jr., 150 

Walter, 3rd, 150 
Cooper House, 149-152 
Copley portraits, 86, 107, 163 
Copp's Hill, 178 
Corlett, Elijah, 58, 63-68, 136 
Correction, House of, 31 
Cotton, Elizabeth, 159 

Rev. John of Newton, 159 
County buildings in East Cambridge, 185 
Counties, Colony divided into, 1643, 29 
Court, General, 13, 14 

Court-House, Harvard square, 15, 30-31, 109 
Court-House, East Cambridge, 32, 185 
Courts, 29, 30 
Crackbone, Gilbert, 144 
Craigie Bridge, 185 



Craigie House, 98, 99-104 

Craigie, Dr. Andrew, 98, 102, 104, 107, 184 

Elizabeth (Shaw), 51, 1U2 
Crane, Jonathan, 68 

Creek Lane, now Brattle square, 1, 5, 83 
Crich, Anne, 77 

John, 77 
Cromwell, Oliver, 73, 75, 81 
Crooked street, now Holyoke, 1, 17, 81 
Crosby House, 84 
Crosby, Joseph, 84 

Kev. Thomas, 84 

Simon, 84 

Simon, Jr., 84 

Thomas, 95 
Crown Point, artillerj' from, 184 
Croydon, Surrey, England, 42, 77 
Cumberland, Nova Scof.a, 155 
Cunningham, Anne Rowe, 177 
Curwin, Samuel, 113 
Gushing, George A., 68 
Custis, John Parke, 101 

Mrs., 88, 132 
Cutler, John, 107 
Cutter, William, 51 
Cutter family, 63 



Dame schools for girls, 65 

Dana (Chief Justice Francis) House, 164-170 

Dana family, 35 

Dana Hill, 167, 179 

Dana-Peabody House, 24 

Dana street (Highway to the Common Pales), 

164, 168 
Dana, Worcester County, 168 
Dana, Chief Justice Francis, 31, 69, 137, 159, 
164-170, 182 

Daniel, 165 

Elizabeth, 69 

Elizabeth (Ellery), 165 

Francis, Jr., 127 

Francis, M.D., 168 

Lydia, 159 

Lydia (Trowbridge), 165 

Martha Remington, 25, 69 

Mary E., 179 

Miss, 8 

Priscilla, 71 

Rev. Edmund, 24, 69, 165, 166, 169 

Richard, 159, 165 

RichardH., Jr., 170 

Richard H., Sen.. 25, 98 

Richard, settler, 165 

Sarah Ann, 69 

Sophia, 127 

Sophia (Willard), 127 
Dane Hall, 25 
Dane, Nathan, 25 

Danforth, Deputy-Governor Thomas, 72, 81, 
91, 161, 162 

Dr. Samuel, of Boston, 57 

Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel, 57 



192 



INDEX 



Danforth, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas, 161 

Elizabeth (Syinraes), 56 

Judge, 123, 173 

Judge Samuel, 56, 57, 68, 113 

Mary (Withington), 161 

Miss, 173 

Nicholas, 37, 54, 75, 93, 161 

Rev. John, of Dorchester, 56 

Thomas, Royalist, 57 

Thomas, schoolmaster, 68 
Danforth estate, 7, 25 
Danforth House. 100-163 
Daniel, Joseph, 141 
Daughters of the Revolution, 126, 138 
Davenport House, 146-148 
Davenport tavern, 146-149 
Davenport, John, 148 
Davis, Andrew McFarland, 61 

Ann, 142 

Captain, 136 

Daniel, 127 

Miss, 170 
Dave House, 53 
Daye, Isaac, 51 

Matthew, 25 

Rebecca, 53 

Stephen, first printer, 43, 44, 53, 136 

Stephen, Jr., 53, 54 

Susanna (Meriam), 51 
Deane, Charles, 104, 105 

Sarah, 162 
De Carteret, Abigail, 63 
Dedham, 160 
Dedham, England, 51 
"Defense, The," 48 
De Grasse, Count, 107 
Delta, 161-163 
Delaware, Bishop of, 107 
Deming, David, 85 
Derby, Mrs., 74 
Devens, Mar}-, 170 
Dexter, Sawyer, 31 
Diarv of Dorothy Dudley, 166 
Diary of John Rowe, 172, 173, 175 
Diary of Prof. John Winthrop, 45 
Dickson House, 145-146 
Dickson, Edward, 146 

Eunice, 145 

Gilbert, 146 

Henry, 145, 146 

Isaiah, 146 

John, 145 

John, Jr., 146 

Sarah (Cook), 145 

William, 44, 145, 146 ^ 
Dinsmore, Dr., 97 note 
Divinity avenue, 163 
Dixon family, 63 
Dolling, Mai-y, 81 
Dorchester, 56 
Dover street, 37 
Drayton, 166 
Driver, Stephen W., M.D., 91 



Driver, Mrs., 92 
Drowne, Deacon Shem, 140 
Drum to summon people, 10 
Duche, Rev. Dr. Jacob, 88 
Dudley House, 2, 48-50 
Dudley, Anne, 4, 33 

Captain Roger, 2 

Deborah, 4 

Dorothy (Yorke), 2, 4, 34 

Governor Thomas, 2-4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 34, 95, 
181, 185 

Joseph, 4 

Mercy, 4 

Patience, 4 

Paul, 4 

Sarah, 4 

Samuel, 2, 4, 58 
Dummer, Samuel, 32 
Dunlap, Frances, 119 
Dunster, David, 54 

Dorothy, 54 

Elizabeth, 62 

Elizabeth (Harris) Glover, 43, 61 

Elizabeth, cousin of President, 143 

Henry, of Balehoult, Bury, England, 61 

Henry, of Menotomy, 63 

Martha (Russell), 63 

Mary, 110 

President Henrv, 12, 21, 23, 28, 40, 43, 54, 
59, 60-63, no", 135, 136 

Rev. Isaiah, 63 
Dunster Primary School, 67 note 
Dunster street, "l, 3, 5, 10, 36, 39, 40, 48-69, 69, 

82, 126, 162 
Dunster's Bible, 63 
Duxbury, 70 



Eams, Jonathan, 68 

Earls-Colne, Sussex, 48 

Earthworks, 179 

East Cambridge, 9, 16, 114, 181-185 

Eastham, 84 

Eastwicke, Grizzell, 75 

Eaton, Benoni, 36, 51, 90 

Governor Theophilua, 50 

Nathaniel, first teacher of college, 21, 58, 51 

Rebecca, 51, 91 

Rebecca, daughter of Benoni, 36, 51 
Eccles, Richard, 95 
Edinborough, University of, 45, 87 
Edinborough Castle, siege of, 43 
Eliot street, called Creek lane, 1, 5, 44 
Eliot, Elizabeth (Gookin), 18, 81 

President Charies \V., 22, 26, 28, 62 

Rev. John, Apostle to the Indians, 18, 80, 97 

Rev. John, Jr., 18, 81 

Rev. Samuel A., Sen., 62 
Ellery street, 25, 165, 168 
EUerv, Benjamin, 100, 122 

Elizabeth, 165 

William, 166 and note 
FJlsworth avenue, 6 



INDEX 



193 



Elmwood, 94, 110-119, 139 
Elmwood avenue, 5, 121 
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 27 

Rev. Mr., describes camp, 177 
Emerson Hall, 27 
Emer}', Mr., schoolmaster, 68 
Emmanuel College, Cambridge, 21, 33, 48 
Empress Catherine, 167 
English officer describes Cambridge, 177 
Ensign House, 38 
Ensign, James, 38 
Episcopal Theological School, 92 
Errington, Anne, oldest headstone in burying- 

ground, 136 
Estaing, Count d', 45, 102 
Eustis, Benjamin, 93 

Elizabeth (Hill), 93 

Governor William, 93 
Everett House, Dorchester, 111 
Everett, President Edward, 22, 23, 28, 102, 127, 
170 

Prof. William, 22, 160 



" Fair American," 107 
" Fair Harvard," 122,^27 
" Faire Grammar Schools," 64 
Faneuil, Mrs. Mary, 130 
Farleng, Goodman, 50 
Farmington, Conn., 70, 75 
Farrar, Luther, 68 

Rev, John, 163 
Farnsworth, James D., 68 

Mary, 120 
Farrington, Thomas, 72 
Farwell Place, 33, 91, 130 
Farwell, Deacon Levi, 35, 92 
Farwell's Corner, 33 
" Father of the College," 85 
Fay, Samuel Phillips Prescott, 127 
Fayerweather House, 110 
Fayerweather, Anne, 83, 110 

Hannah (Waldo), 46, 83, 110 

Rev. Samuel, 110 

Sarah, 110 

Thomas, 46, 83, 110 

Thomas, Jr., 110 
Fayette, Marquis, 45 
Felch, Katherine, 128 
Fellows Orchard, 25, 28, 54 
Felton, President Cornelius Conway, 22, 25, 28, 

103 
Fence, The College, 28 
Fence Viewer, 85 

Ferry, end of Dunster street, 1, 4, 5 
Fessenden, Nicholas, Jr., 51, 68 

Rev. William, 92 

Sarah (Read), 92 

William, 68 
Field, Old, 164 

Field, Philip, negro servant, 161 
Fillebrown, Edward, 138 
Firelocks confiscated, 78 



First houses in East Cambridge, 180-185 
Fisher, Thomas, 71 
Fiske, David, 141 

John, 141 

John, the historian, 99 

Lydia (Cooper), 141 
Fitch House, 143 
Fitch, Abel, 145 

Eunice, 127 

Martha, 86 

Thomas, 86 

Timothy, 142 
Fitchburg Railroad, 155 
Flint, Deborah, 108 
Floating batteries, 183 
Flynt, Tutor Henry, 135 
Fogg, Elizabeth, 27 

Major Jeremiah, 151 

Rev. Jeremiah, 150, 151 
Fogg Art Museum, 27 
Follen, Rev. Charles, 142 
Folsom, Charles, 74, 135 
Forbes, John Murray-, 176 

Mrs., 175 

Ralph Bennet, 176 
Ford, Simon, 169 
Fort No. 1. Riverside Press, 179 

No. 2. Butler's or Dana's Hill, 179 

No. 3. Prospect Hill, Somerville, 179 
Fort Putnam, 4, 33, 179, 184, 185 
Fort Washington, 4, 168, 179, 180 
Fortifications on Charles River, 4, 179, 183 
Forts in Medford and Somerville, 179 
Foster, Andrew, 25 

Bossenger, 98, 107, 160 

Charles Chauncy, 160 

Dr. Isaac, 97, 98 

Dr. Joseph, 97 note 

Dr. Thomas, 24, 28, 57 

Elizabeth, 98 

Joseph, 107, 160 

Richard, 32 

William, 97 
Fourth street, 184 
Fownell, Thomas, 61 
Fox House, 157-160 
Fox, Jabez, 158, 159 

Rev. Jabez, 158, 159 

Rev. John, 159 

Judith (Reyner), 158 

Rebecca, 154 

Thomas, 154 
Foxcroft House, 160-164 
Foxcroft, Daniel, lti2 

Elizabeth (Danforth), IGl 

Judge Francis, 161, 162 

John, 162 

Mehitable (Coney), 162 

Sarah (Deane), 162 
Francis, Alice, 156 

Lj'dia (Cooper), 156 
John, 156 
Richard, 156 



13 



194> 



INDEX 



Francis, Stephen, 156 
Franklin, Benjamin, 166 
Freeman, James, 142 
Freese, John \V., 68 
Freeman, Harriet, 114 
French House, 52 
French, Daniel C, 126, 163 

William, 52 
Fresh Pond, 52, 115 
Frizell House, 94 
Frizell, John, 96 

Mercy, 96 
Front street, 168 
Frost, David, 138 

Ebenezer, 143 

Edmund, 52, 151 

Deacon Gideon, 144, 151 

Hannah (Cooper), 151 

Martha, 152 

Neptune, 139, 144 

Sarah, 152 

William, 151 
Fuller, Margaret, 89, 169 

Timothy, 89 
Fund for care of Fort Washington, 179 



Gage, General, 15, 86 
Gage's troops, 182 
Gallow'sHill,7, 31, 149 
Gamage, Deborah (Weyeth), 156 

Dr., 140 

Joshua, 156 
Gannett Hall, 153 

Rev. Caleb, 89, 155, 160 

Elizabeth (Latham), 155 

Joseph, 155 

Katherine (Wendell), 89 

Kuth (Stiles), 155 
Garden street, 8, 57, 93, 126, 141, 149, 157 
Garfield street, 143 
Gardner, Mrs. Anne (Downing), 35 

Col. Thomas, 121 
Gardner's regiment, 60 
Gates, General, 88, 97 

Mrs., 88 
Gay, Hannah, 71 

John, 164 

Sarah, widow of John, 164 
Gearner, Edmund, 40 

" George Washington Memorial Gateway," 126 
Germains, Lord George, 77 
Germanic Museum, 164 
Gerrv, Catherine, 116 

ilon. Elbridge, 107, 114, 116 
Geyer, Fred, 98 
Gibson, Samuel, 50 
<>ilman. Rev. Samuel, 122, 127 
Glover, 3 

Elizabeth, 43 

Elizabeth (Harris), 43-61 

George, 43 

Henry R., 143 



Glover, Colonel John, 101 

Dr. John, 4-J 

Rev. Josse, 42, 43, 44, 53 

Priscilla, 43 

Sarah, wife of Rev. Josse, 42 

Sarah, 43 
Goddard House, 144 
Goddard, Benjamin, 70, 144, 149 

Charles H., 146 

Daniel, 144 

Elizabeth (Frost), 144 

Eunice (Dickson), 146 

John, 144, 146 

Martha, 150 

Martha (Palfrey), 70 

Nathaniel, 144 

Stephen, 144 

Thomas, 138, 144 

William of Watertown, 70 
Goffe, the Regicide, 81 

Edmund, 156, 164, 165 

Edward, 21, 25, 28, 54, 60, 61, 164, 165 

Mary, 165 

Samuel, 165 
GofEe's College, 21 
Goodwin, John, 32 
Gookin Houses, 71, 80-84 
Gookin, Captain, 50 

Major General Daniel, 18, 75, 80, 81, 136 

Elizabeth, 18, 81 

Hannah (Tyng), 81 

Mary, 71 

Mary (Dolling), 81 

Priscilla (Dana) Hill, 71 

Rev. Nathaniel, 13, 18, 81, 136 

Captain Samuel, 13, 32, 71 

Susanna (Parker), 71 
Gore street. East Cambridge, 182 
Gore, Christopher, 25, 165 
Gove, Elizabeth (Waldin) Batson, 70 

John, 70 
Grammar School, 64-67 
" Graves his Necke," 181 
Graves, Thomas, 180-182 
Gravesend, County of Kent, England, 180 
Gray, Professor Asa, 141 

Francis Galley, 26 

Mrs. George Zabriskie, 92 

John Chipman, 26 

William, 26 
Grav's Hall, 21, 20 
Great Bridge, The, 5, 6, 33 
Great Marsh, The, 182 
Great Salt, The, 43 
Great Swamp, Highway to, 149 
Green street, Boston, 72 
Green, Bartholomew, 85, 95 

Bethia, 38 

Widow Elizabeth, 95 

Elizabeth, 154 

Mrs. Elizabeth (Gerrish),85 

Ellen, 154 

Ensign, 39 



INDEX 



195 



Green, Marshal General John, 38, 58, 154, 155 

Jonathan, 58 

Rev. Joseph, 85 

Percival, 50, 85, 15'1 

Ruth, 38 

Ruth (Mitchellson), 58. 

Sarah, 84 

Samuel, 95, 136 
Greene, General, 175 
Greenhill House, 44 
Greenhill, Samuel, 44, 71 
Greenleaf estate, 128 
Greenleaf, James, 90 

Mary of Boston, 82 

Mary (Longfellow), 90 

Professor Simon, 90 
Gridley, 31 
Groton, 89, 91 
Gymnasium, Old, 164 



Haddon, Widow Katherine, 52 
Hagburne, Katherine, 4 

Samuel, 4 
Half-Crown Lot, 67 
Half-Moon batteries, 179, 183 
Hale, Edward Everett, 22 
Halifax, 86, 101, 105, 114 
Hall, John, 154 
Hampshire street, 55 
Hancock House, 56 
Hancock, Belcher, 155 

Elizabeth, 155 

Joanna, 56 

John, Signer of Declaration of Indepen- 
dence, 15, 56, 97, 167 

Madame John, 105 

Rev. John, "Bishop," 56, 68 

John, Jr., 56 

Mary (Torrey), 155 

Molly, 67 note 

Nathaniel, 37, 56, 155 

Rev. Nathaniel of Tisbury, 155 

Prudence, 93, 155 

Samuel, son of " Bishop John," 56 

Solomon, 155 

Torrey, 138, 155 
Hannah Winthrop Chapter, D. A. R., 122, 

189 
Harlackenden, Elizabeth, 48 

Elizabeth (Bosville), 48 

Emien, 48 

Mabel, 42, 48 

Margaret, 48 

Richard, 48 

Roger, 42, 48, 49, 136 

William, 48 
Harrington, see Errington 
Harris, Elizabeth, 43, 61 

Richard, 43 

Thaddeus William, 74 

William Thaddeus, 137 
Harrison, Peter, 130 



Hart, Stephen, 72 

Hartford, England, 35 

Hartford, Connecticut, 11, 35, 38, 40, 51, 54, 

59, 60, 71, 72, 75 
Harvard College, 3, 9, 11, 19, 20-28, 43, 107, 

108, 169 
Harvard Hall, 22, 24 
Harvard square, formerly Braintree street, 1, 8, 

9, 10, 30, 33, 59, 60, 82, 92, 109, 165, 182 
Harvard street, 165, 169, 177 
Har\'ard Union, 1G5 
Harvard, John, statue of, 163 
Harwich, 63 
Hastings House, 153 
Hastings, Abigail, 55, 154 

Christina (Wainwright), 159 

Daniel, 92 

Edmund T., 179 

Elizabeth, 179 

Elizabeth (Cotton), 159 

Hannah, 149, 153 

Hannah (Moore), 90 

John, 90, 95, 139, 159 

John, "Seaborn," 90 

John of Ash street, 92 

Major John, 159 

Dr. John, 153 

John, Jr., 51 ^ 

Jonathan, "Yankee," 159 . 

Steward Jonathan, 159 ' 

Jonathan, 3rd, 159 

Jonathan, 20, 68 / 

Lydia (Champney), 91 ,' 

Lvdia (Dana), 159 

Mary, 139 

Mary (Meane), 90, 153 

Rebecca, 51 

Samuel, 90 

Sarah (Meane), 90, 153 

Sarah (Sharp), 153, 159 

Seth, 139 

Stephen, 91 

Deacon Walter, 72, 90, 149, 153 

Dr. Walter, 159 
Hasty Pudding Club, 22, 63 
Haugh Farm, 82 
Haugh House, 180-182 
Haugh, Atherton, 181 

Rev. Samuel, 181 

Samuel, Jr., 181 
Haven, Elizabeth (Foster), 98 

Judge Samuel B., 98 
Hawthorn street, 94, 95, 99, 100 
Hayman, Elizabeth, 85 

Nathaniel of Charlestown, 85 
Haynes, Governor John, 42, 48 

Mabel (Harlackenden), 42, 48 
Hay ward. Professor James, 163 
Healy, William, jail keeper, 32 
Heate House, 57 

Heath, General William, 79, 184, 185 
Hedge, Lemuel, 08 

Levi, 44 



196 



INDEX 



Hedge, Mary (Holyoke), 44 

Hemenway Gymnasium (Harvard), 21, 160 

Hemenway Gymnasium (Radcliffe), 128 

Hemenway, Mrs. Mary, 128 

Henry of Navarre, 2 

Hicks Houses, 38. 58, 162 

Hicks, Bethia (Green), 38 

Elizabeth (Sill), 38 

Elizabeth (Nutting), 58 

Hannah, 47 

John, 38 

John, Jr., killed by British, 38, 58, 139, 147 

Dr. Jonathan, 58 

Joseph, 38 

Margaret, 38 

Rebecca (Champney), 38 

Rebecca (Palfrey), 38 

Ruth (Green), 38 

Seeth, 38 

Zechariah, 38, 57 

Zechariah, Jr., 38 
Higginson House, 160 
Iligginson, Stephen, Jr., 160 

Colonel Thomas Wentworth, 111, 140, 160, 
166, 170 
Hi-h Sheriff of Middlesex, 82 
Highway to the Common Pales, 168 
Highway to the Great Swamp, 149 
Highway to Watertown, 84 
Hill (Aaron) House, 92 
Hill-Cooper House, 149 
Hill, Deacon Aaron, 92, 93, 139 

Dr. Aaron, Jr., 94 

Abraham, 93, 139 

Benjamin, 71 

Harriet. 94 

Jacob, 127 

Jonathan, 150, 151 

Jonathan Cooper, 150, 151 

Joseph, 72 

Lydia, 150, 151 

Mary Timmins Quincy, 94 

Persis (Munroe), 72 

Priscilla, 71 

Priscilla(Dana), 71 

Prudence (Hancock), 93, 155 

Nathaniel, 155 

Sarah, 127 

Susanna, 94 

Susanna (Tainter), 93 

Tabitha, 71 

Thomas, 94 

President Thomas, 26, 28 

William, 94 
Hilliard street, 89 
Hilliard, Rev. Timothy, IG, 20, 74 

Mrs. Timothy, 74 
Hoar, George Frisbie, 23 

President Leonard, 28 
Hncbling, England, 33 
Hoi brook, Moses, 68 
Hol.len Chapel, 23 
Uoldcn House, 52 



Holden, Justinian, 52 

Margaret (Cutter), 151 
Mary (Rutter), 52 
Samuel of England, 23 
Holland, 167 
Hollis Hall, 22, 23, 24, 86 
Holliston, 141 
Holman family, 150 
Holman, Marj', 127 
Holmes House, 158-160 
Holmes place, 5, 6, 7, 90, 143, 153-160 
Holmes family, 35 

Holmes, Dr. Abiel, 16. 20, 80, 106, 159, 161, 165 
John, 143. 152,160 
Oliver (Wendell), 22, 128, 158-160 
Sarah (Wendell), 20,159 
Holten, Dr., 97 note 
Hoi worthy Hall, 24 
Holworth'y, Sir Matthew, 24 
Holyoke street, formerly Crooked street, 1, 8, 

17, 31, 59-75, 81, 144 
Holyoke place, 6, 72 

Holyoke, President Edward, 23, 26, 28, 44, 74, 
135 
Mrs., dower house of, 74 
Edward A., 44 
Elizabeth, 44 
John, 135 
Hooker's Company, 11, 17, 35, 38, 42, 44, 50, 51, 

54, 70, 76 
Hooker House, 17 
Hooker, Joanna, 17, 136 

Rev. Thomas, 4, 11, 35, 59, 60 
Hooper House, 108-109 
Hooper, Dr. Henry, 108 
Hopkins Classical School, 65 note 
Hopkins Classical Teacher, 65 note 
Hopkins Charity, 64, 65 
Hopkins, Edward, 64, 65 note 
Hopkins, John, 51 

Bishop John Henry, 169 
Hopkinson, Francis, 87 

Mary, 87 
Hopkinton, 4 

Hoppin, Rev. Nicholas, 134 
Hospitals, Military, 97 note, 111, 114 
Hosmer, George W., 152 
House, President's, 23, 26, 61, 62 
Houghton, Henry 0., 168 
Hovey, Abiel, 37 
John, 37, 68 
John, Jr., 37 
Joseph, 69 
Howard, Caroline, 122 
Joseph, 41 
Samuel, 122 
Hubbard, Margaret, 142 
Hungaria, 180 

Hunt, John, house of, used as hospital, 44 1 
Joseph, 97 note 

Mercy (Hurd) Brigham, Rice, 90 
William of Concord, 90 
Hurd, Mercy, 90 



INDEX 



197 



Hutchinson, Governor, 76, 77, 131, 166 
Judge, 31 
Mrs. Anne, 11 
Eliakim, 76, 77 
Elizabeth, 76 
Frances, 77 
Katy, 77 
Margaret, " Peggy," 77 



Indian Bible, 21, 39 
Indian College, 21 
Indian graduate of Harvard, 21 
Indians, iigures of, 82 

Gookin friend of, 80, 81 

in grammar school, 64 
Inns and innkeepers, 36 
Inman estate, 182 
Iniuan House, 171-177 
Inman street, 171, 175 

Inman, Elizabeth (Murray) Campbell, Smith, 
171-176 

Rev. George, 171 

George, 171, 172 

Hannah Rowe, 171 

Mary Ann Rich^, 171 

Ralph, 129, 165, 168, 171-176 

Sally, 172 

Sallie Coombe, 171 

Susanna, " Sukey," 171 

Susanna (Speak man), 171 

Susan Linzee, 171 
Ipswich, England, 160 
Ipswich, 4, 29, 33, 34, 39, 94 
Ireland, Abraham, 138 

Nathaniel, 127 
Irving street, 164 
Ives, Mr., 77 
Ivry, battle of, 2 



Jackson, President, 24 

Richard, 91 
Jail, list of keepers, 32 
Jails, 31, 32 
Jamaica, 81, 142 
James street, 128 
Jarvis street, 6 
Jarvis, Leonard, 168, 169, 176 

Nathaniel, 143, 161 
Jeffries, Mary (Gookin) Kettle, 71 

Jeffries, Joseph, 71 
.Tefferson, Thomas, 107 
Jenks, Mr. William, 79, 133 
Jenner, Dr., 142 
Jennison House, 139 
Jennison, Miss, school of, 140 

Dr. Timothy Lindall, 79, 139, 140 
Jerseys, The, 87 

Jesus College, Cambridge, England, 129 
Jesus College, Oxford, England, 76 
"Jewell," 34 
"John of London," 43, 53 



Jones' Hill, 7, 149 
Johnson, Marmaduke, 39 

Ruth (Cane), 39 
Johnston Gate, 27 
Johnstone, Sir William, 166 



Kempstkr House, 52 
Kempster, Daniel, 52 

John, of Needum, England, 52 
Kendall, Daniel, 68 

Samuel, 68 
Kennedy avenue, 107 
Kensington, N. H., 150 
Kent, England, 80, 91 
Kent, Benjamin, 68 
Ketch "Adventure," 93 
Kettle, James, 71 

Mary (Gookin), 71 
Kidder, Lydia, 150 
Kidder's Lane, 145 
Kildare, bishopric of, declined by Rev. East 

Apthorp, 77 
King's Chapel, Boston, 130, 142, 171 
King's Highway, 5, 6, 7, 94 
King Charles the Second, 81, 90 
King James the Second, 90 
King Philip's war, 81, 96 
King, Rufus, 165 

Starr, 352 
Kingston, Lieutenant-Colonel, 38 
Kinnaird, Lord, 166 
Kirkland street, 5, 7, 144, 160, 161 
Kirkland, President John Thornton, 23, 28, 

161, 170 
Kitfery, Maine, 36 
Kittredge, Dr. Francis, 97 note 
Knacker, 85 
Kneeland House, 78 
Kneeland, Elizabeth (Holyoke), 44 

Lydia, 44 

Mary, 44 

Solomon, 44 

Dr. William, 44, 147 
Knight, John. 60 
Knox, General Henry, 60, 121, 125, 184 

Lucy F., 121 



Lafayette (see Fayette), 16, 24 

Lamson House, 156 

Lamson, Barnabas or Barnaby, 156 

Joseph, 156 

Martha, 156 

Mary, 156 

Sarah, 156 
Langdon, John, 181 

President Samuel, 23, 28, 46, 124 
Landing of the British, 175, 182, 183 
Langhorne House, 84 
Laiighorne, Thomas, 85 
Latham, Carv, 95 

Elizabeth (Masters), 95 



198 



INDEX 



Latin Grammar School, 67, 152 
Lavincourt, John, of Antigua, 122 

Luc}' (Vassall), 122 
Lawrence Hall, 92 
Lawrence Scientific School, 160 
Lechmere Bridge, Hi 
Lechmere House, 82, 104 
Lechmere Point, 7, 87, Hi, 121, 179, 182-185 
Lechmere Point Corporation, 32, 185 
Lechmere Slave Case, 166 
Lechmere, Margaret, 79 

Marv (Phips), Mrs. Richard, 82, 100, 105, 
111, 182 

Mary, 109 

Lord Nicholas, 105 

Richard, 82, 105, 108, 109, 111, 182 

Thomas, 105, 130 
Lee Hospital, 97 
Lee House, 41 
Lee, Abigail, 109 

Alfred, Bishop of Delaware, 107 

Benjamin, 107 

General (Charles), 88, 101 

Deborah, 108, 109 

Elizabeth (Leighton), 107 

George, Gardner, 110 

Hannah. 107 

Jane (Miller), " Lady Lee," 106, 137 

Judge, Joseph, 82, 104, 108, 109, 129, 132, 
142, 182 

Judith (Coleman), 110 

Lois (Orne), 110 

Louisa, 110, 142 

Rebecca (Phips), 82, 109, 182 

Thomas, of Boston, 108 

Thomas, of Salem, 109, 141 

" English " Thomas, 105, 106, 137 

Thomas, son of Benjamin, 107 

Thomas, Jr., 110 

William Coleman, 110 
Leonard, Rev. Abiel, 133 
Lesley, Susan L, 177 
Leverett family, 83 
Leverett street, Boston, 184 
Leverett, President John, 26, 28, 85, 107, 135 
Lewis, Ezekiel, 110 

George, 101 

Susanna (Ruggles), 110 

William, 70 
Lexington, 5, 13, 28, 33, 38, 60, 86, 110, 139, 

157, 177, 182 
Library, Harvard, 22, 25 
Lincoln, 96 

Earl of, 2, 34 
Linden street, 75 
Linnaean street, 7, 122, 149, 152 
Linzee, Captain John, 171, 172 

Admiral Samuel Hood, 171 

Susanna (Inman), 171, 172 
"Lion," The, 90 
Livermore, Hannah, 38 

Isaac, 170 

Solomon K., 68 



Lloyd, Dr. James, 88, 97 

Locke, President Samuel, 23, 28, 46 

Logan, Abigail, 144 

Longfellow, Frances (Appleton), 103 

Henry Wadsworth, 89, 102, 108, 152 

Mary, 90 

Samuel, 152 
Longfellow House, 99 
Longfellow Park, 95 
Long lane (Winthrop street), 1 
Long pasture, 168 
Lopez, Catherine, 39 
Lord, Richard, 40 

Lottery Ticket, Harvard College, 28 
Love lane, 149 
Lovell, James, 68 
Lowell, Blanche, 118 

Rev. Charles, 116 

Frances (Dunlap), 119 

James Russell, 9, 103, 111, 116, 119 

John, 116, 117 

Mabel, 118 

Maria (White), 117, 122 

Walter, 113 
Lunenburg, 152 
Luxford, James, 60-61, 95 

Margaret, 95 

Reuben, 95 
Lyceum Building, Harvard square, 8, 30 
Lynde, Justice, 31 
Lynn, windmill at, 43 



Mack, David, of Salem, 170 

Magdalen College, Cambridge, 61 

Man of Ross, portrait of, 89, 160 

Mandamus Councillors, 36, 86, 109, 112, 113, 

123, 142 
Manly, Captain, 183 
Manning, Brother, 11 

Elizabeth Bell (Warland), 80 

Samuel, Jr., 59, 80 

William, 70, 138 
Mansfield, Daniel, 68 
Marblehead, 51, 101, 115 

regiment, 101 
Jlarcy, William, 139, 147, 157 
Market House, 9 
Marlborough, 90, 92, 175 
Marlebor'h, Jack, 176 
Marrett family, 63 
Marrett House, 57 
Marrett, Abigail, 39, 40 

Abigail (Tidd), 110 

Amos, 110 

Amos, Jr., 110 

Captain Edward, 40, 57 

John, 96 

Mary (Dunster), 110 

Deacon Thomas, 57, 96 
Marsh lane, now Eliot and South streets, 1, 2 
Marsh, Tutor Thomas, 135 
Marshall, 115, 167 



INDEX 



199 



Marshfield, 49 
Martyn, Rev. John, 40 

Rev. Richard, 85 
Mason House, 40 

Mason street, 5, 57, 92, 93, 126, 155 
Mason, Anne (Fayerweather), 83, 110 

Rebecca (Williams), 83 

Robert Means, 92 

Thaddeus, 40, 83, 110, 156 

William, 68 
Massachusetts avenue, 6, 25, 65, 143, 148, 160, 

1G5, 171, 177 
Massachusetts Bay Company, 180 
Massachusetts Council, 166 
Massachusetts Hall, 22, 23, 62 
Massachusetts Historical Society, 83 
Masters, Elizabeth, 95 

John, 5, 95 
Mather, Rev. Cotton, 2 

President Increase, 19, 28 
Matthews Hall, 26 

Nathan, 26 
Mayhew, Rev. Jonathan, 76, 131 
Mckay House, 80 
McKay, Gordon, 83 / 

McKean, Amy Elizabeth, 127 

Joseph, 127 
Meane House, 153 
Meane, Ann, 90, 153 

John, 90, 153 

Marv, 90, 153 

Sarah, 90, 153 ; 
Medfield, 141 
Medford, 96, 156 
Medical Headquarters, 94 
Medical School of Pennsylvania, 98 
Medicinal Spring, 84 
Jledicine Chests, 96, 97 
Meeting Houses, 10-16 
Mellin estate, 151 
Mellin, Edward, 68 

Rev. John, 89 

JIartha Fitch (Wendell), 89 
Memorial Hall, 163 
Menotomy or Wenotomie, 39, 63, 182 
Menotomy, Road to, 14, 143, 149, 151 
Mercury, Transit of, 45 
Meriam, Robert of Concord, 51 
Merriam, H. C, 68 
Merrimac River, 12 
Mexico, 53 
Meyer Gate, 27 

George von L., 27 ^ 
Middlesex Convention, 97 ^ 
Middlesex, County of, 9, 29 
Mifflin, Sarah, 87 i 

Major Thomas, 87, 183 
Mile Stone, Old, 138 
Military Service, 122 
Milk Row Road, 7, 182 
Miller, Jane, 106 
Miller's River, 182 
Milliard, William, 68 



Milton, 171, 175 

John, 11 
Minute Men Monument, 139 
Misticke Pond and River, 63 
Mitchell, Rev. Jonathan, 12, 13, 17, 26, 63, 81, 

1.36 
Mitchellson, Edward, 58 

Ruth, 58 
Mob, September 1774, 100, 105, 123 
Monis House, 39, 83, 106 
Monis, Abigail (Marrett), 40 

Professor Judah, 14, 39, 40 
Moore familj', 51 
Moore House, 139 
Moore, Abel, 133, 143 

Francis, 69, 91 

Francis, Jr., 69 

Golden, 93, 139 

Joanna (Champney), 93, 139 

John, 69 

Deacon Josiah, 139, 143 

Hannah, 91, 139 

Mary (Hastings), 139 

Nancy (Warland), 139 

Sarah (Warland), 143 

Thomas, 69 
Morgan, Dr. John, 87, 98 

Mary (Hopkinson), 87 <^ 

Morrill, Abraham, 47 , 

Morris, Gouverneur, 166 

Morris of Philadelphia, 87 

Sarah, 87 
Morse, Catharine, 158 

Susan, 158 

Royal, 158 

William, 52 
Mosely family, 83 
Motley, John Lothrop, 84 
Mount Auburn street, called Spring lane, 1, 6, 
10, 31, 38, 42, 69, 75, 81, 84, 95, 121, 144, 161 
Mount Vernon, 101 
Mount Wollaston, 11 
Moylan, Colonel, 184 
Munroe, President, 24 

Houses, 92 

Deacon Jame. 92 

Persis, 72 
Murray, Elizabeth, 17* 

James, 171, 174, IT* 
Museums, 163, 164 
Muzzy, Widow Hester, 60 



"Nancy," brig captured by Captain Manly, 

88, 183 
Nason, Elias, 68 
Navv, Secretary of, 180 
Neck, The, Cambridgeport, 6, 164, 169, 181 
Negro servants or slaves, 41, 98, 162, 170 
Negro woman burned alive, 31 
Nelson, Robinson, Jr., Hall, 27 
New Brick Meeting House, Boston, 140 
Newbury, 51, 52 



200 



INDEX 



Kewburyport, 98, 101, 117, 131, 151 

New castle-on-Tyne, 51, 70 

"New England Prospect," extract from, 1 

New England First Fruits, extract from, 20 

Newfoundland, 45 

New Hall, see Stoughton Hall 

New Hampshire, College in, 86 

New Hampshire, General Assemlily of, 77 

New Hampshire, Governor of, 96 

New Jersey, Governor of, 96 

New Lecture Hall, 163 

New London, 40, 95 

Newman Patience, 36 

Rev. Samuel, 36 
Newport, R. L, 142 
Newton, 5, 12, 69 

Newtowne, 1, 9, 17, 21, 29, 180, 181 
Newell, Postmaster, 83 

Elizabeth, 109 

Samuel, 68, 

Rev. William, 111, 156 
Nicbolls House, 107-109 
Nicholls, Mr., 143 
Nichols, George, 109 

John, 109 
Nicolls, Judge, 2, 4 
Niles, Helen N., 80 
Ninigret, expedition against, 136 
Norfolk, 48 

North avenue, see Massachusetts ave. 
NortL End, Boston, 8 
North, Lord, 167 
Northborough, 40 
North Cambridge, 70, 148 
Northampton, England, 2, 34 
Norton House, 164 
Norton, Professor Andrews, 164 

Professor Charles Eliot, 117, 164 
Nova Scotia, 105, 139 
Nuttall, Thomas, 141 
Nutting, Elizabeth, 58 

Jonathan, 58 

John, 143 

Philip, 68 
Nursing, Cambridge School for, 168 



Oakes, Hannah, 51 

President Urian, 18, 28, 50, 135 
Oak Tree, elections held under, 6, 123 
Observatory grounds, 132 
Old Field, 164 
Oldham, Anne, 70 

Mary, 91 
Oldest College building standing, 22 
Oliver-Phips House, 80-83 
Oliver-Gerrj'-Lowell House, 110-119 
Oliver, Judge, 77 

Ann, 111 

Elizabeth, 100, 111 

Elizabeth (Vassall), 96, 100, 111 

Fanny, 77 

Frances, 112 



Oliver, Harriet (Freeman), 114 

Dr. James, 81, 85 

Lucy, 112 

Mary, 112 

Mercy (Bradstreet), 82 

Penelope, 112 

Peter, 85 

Robert, 100,110,112 

Sarah, 82 

Lieutenant-Governor Thomas, 96, 111-114, 
123, 129 
Orne, Caroline F., 122 

Lois (Pickering), 110 

Thomas, 110 
Osgood and Farrington, 8, 72 
Ossoli, Countess d', see Margaret Fuller 
Otis street, 181, 184 
Otis, Harrison Gray, 31, 165 
Owen, John, 8 
Oxford, 93 
Oxford street, 6, 161 
Ox pasture, 160 



Packard, Asa, 68 

Hezekiah, 68 

William, 116 
Paine, John, 21 

William, 21 
Palfrey, John, 38, 54 

Martha, 70 

Rebecca, 38 

Rebecca (Boardman), 54 

Colonel William, 132 
Palisades, 6 
Palmer street, 31 
Palmer, Stephen, 8 
Paris, Francis Dana sent to, 167 
Parish, First divided, 16 
Parker, Rev. Dr. of Boston, 131 

Anne, 71 

Ebenezer of Stoneham, 157 

Henry J., 68 

John, 95 

Captain Josiah, 51, 71, 91 

Judith, 95 

Mary (Hancock), 155 

Nathaniel, 69 

Obediah, 68 

Robert, 95 
Parnell, Elisha, 68 
Parks, Isabel, 155 

Richard, 155 
Parsonage. 18, 28, 85, 165 
Parsons, Theophilus, 31, 150, 165 
Partridge, Lieutenant-Governor William, 96 

Mary, 96 
Pasture, Long, 1G8 
Patrick House, 39 
Patrick, Captain Daniel, 39 
Pattin or Patten, John, 95 
Luxford, 95 
Margaret (Luxford), 95 



INDEX 



201 



Pattin or Patten, Rebecca (Bobbins), 95 

William, 95 
Payne, Moses, 59 
Peabody Museum, 163 
Peabody, Rev. Andrew P., 25 

Rev. Francis G., 161 

Deacon Nathaniel, 43 
Pearson, Eliphalet, 74, 159 
Peck, Professor William Dandridge, 128 
Pelham House, 33-48 
Pelham, Edward, 49, 50 

Edward, Jr., 50 

Henry, 49 

Herbert, 35, 49, 50 

Herbert, Jr., 49 

Nathaniel, 49 

Penelope, 49 

Thomas, son of Edward, 50 

Waldegrave, 49 
Pembroke, 63 

Pennel, Mr., brings powder to camp, 83 
Pepperell, Elizabeth, 36 

Sir William, 36 

William, mandamus councillor, 36 
Percy, Lord, 5, 38 
Percy's troops, 148 
Philadelphia, 86, 87, 101 
Perigord, 100 
Phillips Brooks House, built by contributions, 

27 
Phillips family, 35 
Phillips, Gene'ral, 38 
Phillips House, 164 
Phillips, Hannah Brackett (Hill), 94 

Harriet (Hill), 94 

Rev. John, 160 

John, first mayor of Boston, 164 

Margaret (Wendell), 164 

Lieutenant-Governor Samuel, 164 

Sarah (Walley), 164 

Timothy, 32 " 

Wendell, 164 

Willard, 94, 102 

William, 164 
Phips Houses, 40, 80-83, 97 note, 168. 181 
Phips or Phipps, Colonel David, 32, 80-83, 111, 
129, 181,182 

Elizabeth, 82, 96, 100 

Mary, 82, 105 

Rebecca, 82, 109 

Sarah, 55, 82 

Lieutenant-Governor Spencer, 55, 82, 100, 
105, 111, 181 
Pierce, Mark, 75 

Mercy, 144 

Proctor, 68 

William, 54 
Pierpont, Elizabeth (Angier), 52 

Rev. Jonathan of Reading, 52 
Pigeon, John, 132, 132 note 
Pinckney, 115, 167 
Pine Grove, 179 
Planting field, 164 



Pleasant street, 169 

Ploughed Hill, 183 

Plymouth street, 55, 181, 182 

Plympton street, 75 

Pomeroy, Samuel William, 154 

Pond, Common, 59 

Poor's, Colonel, regiment, 151 

Porter's Hotel, 144 

Porter, Lsrael, 38, 143 

Post, Thomas, 52, 69 

Postmasters, 83, 92 

Pratt, Dexter, 89 

Prentice Houses, 126, 127, 128, 141 

Prentice-Bates House, 141 

Prentice or Prentiss, Abigail (Logan), 144 

Prentice, Benjamin, 116 

Caleb, 8 

Catherine (Felch), 128, 157 

Elizabeth (Rand), 141 

Eunice (Fitch), 127 

Henry, 56, 126-127, 141 

Joanna, 127 

John, 127 

Rev. Joshua, 141 

Mary, 56 

Nathaniel, 144 

Sarah (Hill), 127 
Prentiss, Jonas, 144 

Mercj' (Pierce), 144 

Nathaniel, 138 

Samuel, 138 

Solomon, 141, 144 

Susanna (Brown), 127 
Prescott, Colonel, assembled his men on Cam- 
bridge Common, 124 
Prescott the Historian, 22 

James, 32 
Presidents of Harvard, list of, 28 
Presidents buried in Harvard square, 135 
Presidents, Houses of, 23, 25, 26, 55 
Presidential Elector, 115 
Prince of Wales, visit of, 24 
Prince William Henry, Duke of Clarence, 107 
Printing-press, first in America, 43, 53 
Probate, Registry of, removed to East Cam- 
bridge, 32 
Proctor, Richard, 51 
Professor's Row, 163 
Propagation of Gospel in Foreign Parts, Society 

for, 76, 129 
Propagation of Gospel among the Indians, So- 
ciety for, 21, 49 
Propagation of Gospel in New England, 39 
Prospect Hill, 178, 179, 183 
Providence, R. L, 69 
Province House, 140 
Provincial Congress, see Congress 
Pump in College Yard, 27 
Putnam Fort, 179, 184 
Putnam Hospital, 97 note 
Putnam School, 184, 185 
Putnam, Daniel, 175 

General Israel, 75, 175, 178, 183, 185 



OQO 



INDEX 



Putnam, Rufu?, 38 
Pyne swamp, 157 



Quakers, 81 

Quarry Hill, Charlestown, 112 

Quebec, 130, 157 

Queen Elizabeth, 2 

Querci, loO 

Quick, Elizabeth (Cooke), 40 

Rev. Jolm, 40 
Quiiicy square, 164 
Quincy street, 26, 163, 164, 165 
Quincy, Edmund, 81, 105 

Elizabeth (Gookin), Eliot, 81 

Esther, 105 

Hannah, 94 

President Josiah, 23, 28 

Samuel, 94 
Quineboquin, name of Charles River, 4 
Quinn, Mr., 184 



Radcliffe College, 9, 127, 128 
Raud, Dr., 97 note 

Elizabeth, 141 

Mary, 157 
Randall Hall, 163 
Randall, John, 68 
Randolph Hall, 80 
Randolph, Edmimd, 101 
Read (Reed), House, 91-92 
Read, Hannah (Stacey), 91 

James, 91 

James, Jr., 91, 130 

James, 3rd., 91, 92 

James, 4th, 92 

Joseph Stacej', 92 

Mary (Oldham), 91 

Sarah (Batson), 91 
Reading, 52, 143 
Rebellion Tree, 27 
Redding, Joseph, 72 
Red Lion Inn, 143 

Redwood Library, Newport, R. I., 130, 142 
Redwood, Abraham, 142 
Reed Hall, 92 
Reemy, Marcus, 8 
Remington Houses, 37, 94 
Remington, Jonathan, 37, 59, 74, 96 

Jr., Judge Jonathan, 96, 137, 166 

Jonathan, 3rd, 135 

Martha (Belcher), 96 
Remington street, 165, 168 
Repudiation of debts, 167 
Reyner, Rev. John, 158 
Revere. Paul, 121 
" Revolutionary Congressman on Horseback," 

166 note 
Revolutionary Hospitals, 39, 40, 44, 97 note, 

114, 111 
Revolutionary Soldiers, graves of, 114, 138, 139 
Rhode Island, 89 



Rice, Edmnnd, 90 

Mercy (Hurd), Brigham, 90 
Richards, Nathaniel, 72 
Richardson House, 156 
Richardson House, Dorchester, 111 
Richarddon, Elias, 157 

Elizabeth (Bowprs). 157 
Elizabeth (Swan), 157 
Ezekiel, 157 
Katherine, 157 
Mary (Champney), 157 
Mary (Rand), 157 
Moses, 93, 128, 139, 147, 157, 158 
Moses, Jr., 147, 157 
Raham, 157, 158 
Ruth (Swan), 157, 153 
Samuel of Woburn, 157 
Sally (Clark), 157 
Theophilus, 93, 157 
Thomas of Woburn, 157 
Riedesel, Baron von, Hessian General, 7, 104- 

106 
Riedesel, Baroness von, 78, 100, 105-106 
Rindge, Frederick H., 177 
Ripley, Sophia (Dana), Mrs. George, 127 
Robbins Public Library, Arlington, 14 
Robbins, Nathan, 145, 146 

Rebecca, 95 
Robinson, Nelson, 27 
Rodney, AdmirMl, 107 
Rogers, President John, 28 
Roscoe, John, 142 

William, 60 
Roseland street, 144 
RoM-e, Jack, 175 

John, 171, 172, 173, 175 
Hannah (Speakman), 171 
Roxbury, 4, 8, 76, 97, 179 
Royall, Penelope, 96 
Royal Society, London, 85 
Ruggles, Captain George, 1 10 
Susanna, 110 
Susanna (Vassall), 110 
Russell, Chambers of Lincoln, 105 
Russell, Dr., Charles, 96 
Elizabeth (Vassall), 96 
Hobart, 182 

James of Bristol, England, 109 
Jason, 63, 139, 182 
(Jonathan), 50 
Martha, 63 

Mary (Lechmere), 109 
Mary (Richardson), 157 
Nathan, Jr., 92 
Thomas, 102 
William, 157 
Russia, Dana, minister to, 167 
Rutter, John of Sudbury, 52 
Marv, 52 



Saint DuNSTANS-in-the-West, London, 81 
Saint James'd Church, 148 



INDEX 



203 



Saint Jolin, New Brunswick, 105, 174 

Saint John's Chapel, 92 

Saint Joseph, Sisters of, 83 

Saint Paul's Church, 69, 83 

Saint Paul's Cathedral, London, 77 

Saint Peter's Church, Philadelphia, 87 

Salem, 29, 35, 108-109, 100 

Salisbury, 47 

Saltonstall, Governor Gurdon, 85 

Katherine, 85 
Sander's Theatre, 163 
Sanders, Daniel Clarke, 68 
Saratoga, 106 

Sargeant, Colonel, 174, 175 
Sargeant, Rev. Winwood, 132, 142 
Saunders, Jlartin, 95 

Robert, 58 

William Augustus, 66, 140, 143 
Savage, Habijah, 81 
Sawtell, Anna, 69 

John, 69 
Scales, Abraham, 68 
School court, 67 note 
School houses, 63-69 
School masters, names of, 68 
Scituate, 62, 70, 135 
Second street, 183 

Seiders, Rev. Reuben, see Austin, R. T., 68, 152 
Semitic Museum, 164 
Sessions, Miss, 44 
Sever Hall, 27 
^ever, Mrs. Ann, 27 

Colonel James Warren, 27 
Sewall Houses, 26, 28, 105-108 
Sewall, Judge, 31, 54 
Sewall, Elizabeth (Alford), 83 

Esther (Quincy), 105 

Jonathan, 105 

Reljecca (Wigglesworth), 26 

Stephen, 68, 105 
Shady Hill, 164 
Shapieigh, Samuel, 68, 135 
Sharp, Sarah, 153 
Shaw, Rev. Bezaleel, 102 

D. P., 92 

Elizabeth, 102 

Robert G., 23 
Shawshine lands, 53 
Shepard street, 128 

Shepard Memorial Church, 16, 93, 139-140 
Shepard, Edward, 71 

Jeremv, 54 

John, 71 

Joanna (Hooker), 17 

Margaret, 136, 171 

Samuel, 54, 75 

Rev. Thomas, 11, 12, 41, 48, 75, 136, 160 
" Sheppard, John, husbandman," 73 
Sherborne, Mrs. Elizabeth, 41 
Shirley House, Roxbury, 76 
Shirle}', Governor, 76 
Shrewsbury, England, 165 
S1gn-post, 143 



Sill, Elizabeth, 38 

John, 38 
Silver, increase in value of, 96 
Simpson, Jane (Borland), 79 

Jonathan, 79 

Jonathan, Jr , 79 

Margaret (Lechmere), 79 
Skidmore House, 47 
Skidmore, John, 47 

Thomas, 47 
Slave suit, Lechmere-Sewall, 105, IGG 
Slocum, Mr. Samuel, 185 
Small Lot Hill, 164 
Smiljert portraits, 163 
Smith, Lieutenant-Colonel, 121, 182, 185 

Elizabeth (Murray) Campbell, 171 

Katherine (Richardson), 157 

James, 157, 171 
Smithy, Village, 89 
Snow Brothers, 9 
Society for Propagation of Gospel in Foreign 

Parts, 76, 129 
Society for the Propagation of the Go?pel in 

New England, 39 
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel 

among the Indians, 21, 49 
Soden Farm, IGO, 182 
Sohier, William D., 107 
Soldiers' Monuments, 125, 139 
Somerville, 182, 184 
Somerville convent burnt, 153 
Somerville lino, 6, 161 
Sons of Liberty, 165 
Southampton, England, 2 
Southern Club, 57 
South street called Marsh lane, 1, 2, 3, 40, 59, 

72 
Spain, King of, 167 
Spalding, Henry G., 80 

Mrs. Lucy W., 80 
Sparhawk, Anne or Anna, 36, 150 

Elizabeth CPepperell), 36 

Esther, 36 

Rev. John, 36, 68 

Katherine, 36 

Mary, 36 

Patience (Newman), 36 

Nathaniel, 35, 36, 37, 94, 150, 150, 158 

Sybil, 36 
Sparks, President Jared, 23, 28, 102, 163 
Spear, Thomas, 135 
Spencer House, 44 
Spencer, Thomas, 44 

Rebecca, 82 
Sprague, Joseph, 36 

Spring lane, now Mount Auburn street, 1 
Spring street, 182 
Spring, Susanna, 121 
Squire's wharf, 83 
Stacey Hannah (Hicks), 47 

Hannah, 91 

Rev. Joseph, 47, 91 

Susanna, 47 



204. 



INDEX 



Stacey, Thomas, 47 

Thomas, Jr., 47 

Thomas, 3d, 47 
Stack chimneys, 32, 41, 94, 107 
Stage for Boston, 54 
Stanley House, 52 
Stanley, Timothy, 52 
States, Committee of, 167 
Steadman, Eben, 68 
Stearns, Professor Asahel, 163 

John, lOS 

Rebecca (Gibson), 127 
Stebbins, Edward, 54 
Steadman, Cato, 139 

Ebenezer, 52 

John, 43, 73, 136 

Martha, 73 
Steele, George, 54, 59 

John, 59 
Stephen, Leslie, 119 ) 

Stevenson, Andrew, 32 
Steward, Antipas, 68 
Stewart, Charles, G8 
Stiles, Ezra, 155 
Stocking, George, 70 
Stone, D., G8 

Daniel, 57 

Elizabeth, 60 

Gregory, 122, 136, 150 

Mrs. Lydia, 150 

Rev. Samuel, 11, 35, 60 

Simon, 122 
Stoneham, 157 
Story street, 89 
Story, Judge Joseph, 89, 169 

William, W., 90, 110 
Stougliton, Lieutenant-Governor William, 22 
Stoughton Halls, 22, 24 
Stoughton, Mrs., 99 
Stratton, Ebenezer, 73 

Elizabeth, 74 

John, 111 
Streets of Cambridge, early names of, 1 
Sudbury, 52, 155 
Sullivan's Expedition, 151 
Sullivan, Richard, 127 

Richard, Jr., 127 
Sumner, Charles, 22, 103 
Surgeons in Revolution, 97 note 
" Susan and Ellen," 84, 154 
Sutton, 38 
Sutton, England, 42 
Swedenborgian Chapel, 163 
Sweet Auburn, 121 
Sweetnian land, 28 
Swan, Elizabeth, 157 

Gershom, 157 

John, 157 

Ruth, 157 
Symkin, Nicholas, 60 
Syimncs, Elizabeth, 56, 93 

Rev. Thomas, 93 
Synod meets in Cambridge, 11 



Tablets, memorial, in Cambridge, 2, 10, 26, 28, 

53, 68, 89, 124, 183, 185 
Tainter, Susanna, 93 
"Talbot, The," 34 
Talcott, John, 90 

John, Jr., 90 

Governor Joseph, 90 
Tappan, Rev, Christopher of Newbury, 52 

Professor David, 74 

Sarah (Angier), 52 
Taunton, England, 100 
Taverns, 36, 50 
Taylor, Dr., 97 note, 149, 151 
Taylor, Edward of Boston, 95 

Joseph, 138 
Tea in Boston Harbor 
"Tenth Muse, The," 34 
Temple, Robert, 129 
Tewksbury, 55 
Thacher, Dr., James, 97 note 
Thatched roofs forbidden, 1 
Thatcher, Ebenezer, 121 

Lucy F. (Knox), 121 

Mary (Brown), 121 

Mary (Farnsworth), 120 

Colonel Samuel, 121 

Deacon Samuel, 120 

Samuel, Jr., 120 

Susanna (Spring), 120 
Thatcher's Company of Minute Men, 121, 139, 

144, 155 
Tha3'er Commons, 156 
Thayer Hall, 26 
Thayer, John Eliot, 26 

Nathaniel, 26, 156 
Third street, 182, 184 
Thomas, Priscilla (Capen), 43 
Thomaston, Maine, 121 
Thompson, Colonel, 183 

Rev. William of Braintree, 84 
Thomson, Charles, 115 
Thorndike street, 184 
Ticonderoga, Artillery from, 184 
Tidd, Abigail, 110 

Daniel, 110 

Hepzibah (Reed), 110 
Tiffany, Nina Moore, 177 
Tilden, Hannah Rowe (Inman), 171 ' 

William, 171 
Tisburj', 155 
Tobago, 94 
Todd, Paymaster John P., 94, 142 

Susanna (Hill), 94 
Tolman, Farr, 46 

Hannah (Fayerweather), 46 
Torrey, Rev. Josiah of Tisburj', 155 

Marv, 155 
Tory Row, 7, 94-121, 131, 182 
Town drummer, 56, 85 
Town grant to Harvard, 21, 28, 160 
Town spring, 84 
Towne houses, 40-41, 57 
Towne, Elizabeth, 40 



INDEX 



205 



Towne, Joanna, 40 

Peter, Jr., 40 

William, iirst sexton, 41, 57, 126 
Townsend, Elizabeth (Phillips), 46 

James, 46 

IMary, 56 

Kebecca, 46 

William Blair, 56 
Train, Isaac, 32 
Tracy, Nathaniel, 98, 101 
"Travellers and Outlaws," 166 note 
Trecothick, Barlow, 75, 77 
Trowbridge House, 69 
Trowbridge-Dana tomb, 137 
Trowbridge, Judge Edmund, 25, 31, 69, 137, 
165, 166, 167, 168 

Lydia, 25, 105 

Mary (Goffe), 165 

Thomas, 25 
Truesdale, Elizabeth, 55 

Richard, 55 
Trumbull portraits, 163 
Tyler, Royall, 165 
Tyng, Edward, 51, 81 

Hannah, 81 
Turnpike, 6, 7, 143-149 



Usher, Hezekiah, first bookseller in the colony, 

58 
Underground river, 84 
Unitarian Church, 16 
University Hall, 24 
University Press, 84 
Upham, Mary U., 163 



Vaccination, introduced by Dr. Waterhouse, 

142 
Valentine, Mr., 74 
Valley Forge, Mr. Dana visits, 166 
Van Brunt, Henry, 163 
Van Buren, President, 24 
Vane, Sir Harry, 20, 42, 123 
Vassalls, Du, Barons of Guerden, lOO 
Vassall Tomb, 136 

Vassall Houses, 94-99, 99-104, 121-122, 142 
Vassall, Ann (Davis), 142 

Anna, 78 

Elizabeth, 96, 100, 111 

Elizabeth (Phips), 82, 96, 100, 182 

Elizabeth (Oliver), 100, 111 

Henry, 95, 96, 110, 111, 121, 129, 142 

Colonel John, 82, 95, 100, 101, 104, 121, 136, 
142, 182 

Colonel John, Jr., 96, 100, 101, 111, 129 

Lucy (Barron), 121, 122 

Lucy, 121, 122 

Major Leonard, 96, 109, 142 

Margaret (Hubbard), 142 

Penelope (Royall), 90-99, 111 

Ruth, 96 

Susanna, 109 



Vassall, William, 109, 142 

Venus, Transit of, 45 

Vice-President of the United States, 114 

Village, The, 9 

Vinal, Mr., 177 

Volunteers, First Regiment of, 158 



Wadswouth House, 23, 101 

Wadsworth, President Benjamin, 23, 28, 55, 135 

Joseph, 60 

Ruth (Bordman), 55 

William, 60 
Walcott House, 142 
Walcott, Dr. H. P., 142 
Wainwright, Christine, 159 

Rev. Jonathan Mayhew, 133 
Waitt, Andrew, 170 
Waldegrave, Thomas, 49 

Sir William, 49 
Waldo, Cornelius, 108 

Mrs. Faith, 108 

Hannah, 83 
Walker, President James, 28 
Walley, Sarah, 164 

Thomas, 164 
Walton, John, 143 

Lieutenant Joshua, 138 
War, Secretary of, 180 
War of 1812, 15, 16 
Ward, General, 147, 159 

Headquarters of General, 7, 20, 159 
Ware, Henrj-, 68 

Professor Henry, 163, 164, 170 

Professor William, 68, 142, 170 

William Robert, 163 
Warren, Charles, 68 

General Joseph, M.D., 139, 159 

John, 97 note 

Mr. Winslow, 135 

Mrs. James, 45, 47 

Mrs. Mercy, 114 
Warren, Maine, 121 
Warland, Anne (Parker), 71 

Elizabeth Bell, 80 

Hannah (Gav), 71 

Mary Bell, 80 

Nancv, 139 

Owen, 71, 79, 139, 143 

'Sarah, 143 

Tabitha(Hill), 71 

Thomas, 79, 80 

William, 71 
Warner, Joseph B., 110 
Washington Elm, 5, 124 
Washington Hospital, 97 note 
Washington School, 67, 08 
Washington street, Boston, 61, 181 
Washington street, Roxbury, 4 
Washington, Fort, 4, 179, 180 

General George, 23, 40, 88, 93, 99, 107, 178 

Mrs. George, 88, 101, 132 
Washington's Headquarters, 23, 99-104 



206 



INDEX 



Watcli Hill, 57 
Waterhouse House, 132, 142 
Waterhouse street, G, 124, 141, 149 
Waterhouse, Dr. Benjamin, 110, 140, 142 

Louise (Lee), 110, 142 
Water street, now Dunster, 1, 3, 48-59 
Waterston, Helen, 104 
Watertown, 5, 38, 51, 70, 90, 153 

Highway to, 84, 00, 101 
Watertown line, 107, 110 
Watertown meetinf^-house, 07 
Watson Houses, 38, 140-149 
Watson, Abiel (Angier), 37, 148 
Abraham, 147, 148 
Catherine (Lopez), 39 
Daniel, 148 

Elizabeth (Whitteniore), 39 
Isaac, 37, 148 
Jacob, 32, 146 
Lieutenant John, 138 
Susanna (Wyeth), 39 
William, 39 
Wayland, 152 
Weathercock, 140 

Webber, President Samuel. 8, 23, 28, 68, 135 
AVebster, Professor John, 92 
Weld Hall, 26 
Weld, Stephen Minot, 26 
William Fletcher, 26 
Wellington, Timoth}-, 68 
Wells, Maine. 85 

Wells, William, 111 
Welsh, Dr., 170 
Wendell street, 142 
Wendell, Jacob, 82, 164 
John Mico, 88, 155 
Katherine, 89, 155 
Katherine (Brattle), 88, 155 
Margaret, 164 
Martha Fitch, 89 
Judge Oliver, 20, 159, 169 
Sarah, 20 
Sarah (Oliver), 82 
Wenotomie, see Mciiotomy 
Wentworth, Governor Benning, 77 
Wesson, Mr., 114 
West Boston Bridge, 169 
West Cambridge, 5 

West End, 90 . 

Western, Mrs. Frances (Bollan), 168 
West Indies, 96, 141 
Westminster, 40 
Westwood, William, 70 
Wethersfield, Conn., 132 
Whallcy, the Regicide, 81 
Wheat, Dr. Samuel, of Needbam, 92 
White, John, 75 
Maria, 117, 122 
Thomas Joyce, 92 
Whitefield Elm, situation of, 123, 142 
Whitefield, Rev. George, 14, 123 
Wliiling, Dr., 97 note 
Whitmore, Francis, 155 



Whitmore, Isabel, 155 
Whittaker, Jonathan, 68 
Wliittemore House, 38 
Whitteniore, Abigail (De Carteret), 63 
Mrs. Almira T., 14 
Elizabetli, 39 
Hannah (Livermore), 38 
Deacon Henry, 14 
Margaret (Ilicks), 38 
Deacon Samuel, 38 
Captain Samuel, 39 
Wigglesworth House, 1, 17 
Wigglesworth, Professor Edward, 26, 36, 135 
Professor Edward, Jr., 26, 28 
Rebecca, 26 

Wigglesworth, Sybil (Sparhawk), 36 
Wilcox, William, 95 " 
Willard's Hotel, 54 
Willard, Professor, 74, 170 
Wiliard, President Joseph, 23,28, 107, 127, 135 
Joseph A., 179 
Penelope, 179 
Mp.jor Simon. .58 
President Samuel, 28 
Saphia, 127 
William and Mary, silver, 131 
Williams, Rebecca, 83 

Professor Samuel, 109 
Willis's creek (Miller's river), 182, 185 
Willows, Dudley-Lowell, 6 
Wilson, Rev. John, 123 
Windmill Hill, 6, 90 
Windmill laue, see Ash street 
Wine cellars looted, 78 
Winlock, Anna, 94 

Professor Joseph, 94, 142 
Winship, Edward, 155 
Elizabeth, 155 
Jason, 139 
Winslow, Governor Josiah, 49 

Penelope (Pelham), 49 
Winsor street, 56 
Winsor, Justin, 104 
Winter Hill, 106, 155 
Winter, William, 44 
Winthrop Hall, 92 
Winthrop House, 80-83. 181 
Winthrop square, 41, 42, 61 
Winthrop street (Long lane), 10, 38, 40, 44, 58, 

60, 162 
Winthrop, Adam, 43 
Deanc, 43 

Elizabeth (Glover), 43 
Judge, James, 46, 74 

Governor John, 2, 3, 10,45,74, 121, 122,517 
Professor John, 44-47, 83, 84, 110 
Madame Hannah, 44, 46, 47, 110, 111 
Mary, 58 

Rebecca (Townsend), 46 
Sarah (Glover), 43 
Wait, 105 
William, 40, 74, 83 
I Wise, John, 50 



INDEX 



207 



Witchcraft trials, 32 

Withington, Mary, 161 

Woburn, 158, 159, 181 

Wolfe, General, 157, 158 

Wood Church, Kent, 48 

Wood street, see Boylston street 

Wood-yard, site of, 24, 27 

Woodbiir}', Emma, 93 

Worcester County, 1G3 

Worcester, England, Bishop of, 87 

Worcester House, 103 

Worcester, Amy Elizabeth (McKcan), 127 

F. A., 68 

Joseph Emerson, 103, 127 
Wreiitham, England, 161 



Wright, Luther, 68 
Wyeth, Deborah, 156 

Ebenezer, 39 

Elizabeth (Hancock), 155 

John, 155 

Rebecca, 155 

Susanna, 39 

William, 156 
Wyman, Jabez, 139 

Dr. Morrill, 152 



" Yankee Jonathan, 
Yorke, Dorothy, 2 
Young, Mary E., 80 



154 



Copies of the Hannah W'mthrop Chapter, D. A. E., Historic Guide 
to Cambridge may be obtained of Mrs. Mary I. J. Gozzaldi^ 96 Brattle 
streety Cambridge, Massachusetts. 



FEB 18 1907 




LIBRARY OF COr 



014 013 431 4 




